


Angel With A Shotgun

by Stormess



Category: Revolution (TV)
Genre: F/M, Language, Romance, Uncle/Niece Incest, Unplanned Pregnancy, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-03-29
Updated: 2015-01-12
Packaged: 2017-12-06 21:26:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 38,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/740333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stormess/pseuds/Stormess
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Miles Matheson never thought he'd act on the twisted thoughts in his head when it came to Charlie. Now that he has, he's got to step up and face the music for his actions. He just never thought in a million years that things would lead him right back to the one place he never wanted to go. Back to the one man he spent years running away from, but for the woman he loves, there's little that Miles won't do.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

Miles wasn't sure when his unhealthy obsession with Charlie had started in the first place, whether it had been the first time he'd seen her, or later. He'd done his best to run from her right from the very beginning, and she'd waltzed back into his life like a whirlwind that destroyed everything around him. The peaceful life he'd been leading was long gone, and it had all started from the first time she said her name to him, looking like a scared child more than a young woman. From there he'd watched her through the eyes of a man who had a dark side that couldn't remember what it was like to be a good man anymore. She'd tried to tell him that he still cared about people, that he gave a crap about someone other than himself, and he'd flat out refused to believe that. Even Nora knew him well enough to know that there wasn't that much good in him anymore, but Charlie, his sweet Charlie had refused to believe that for even a moment.

Then he'd noticed it happening, the way she'd been reluctant to kill in the beginning, the way she'd kept him from putting more blood on his hands. And then she'd changed so much, she had started killing without a second thought because he'd said it needed to be done, she took his orders and obeyed them without question. His darkness had seeped out onto her, stained her pretty hands with the blood of more than enough people, even if the number was low, one was more than enough. She'd even went out on a mission to kill an innocent man when Drexel had demanded it of her, just to save a woman that Miles thought he still loved. He didn't. Saving Nora had been out of habit more than true caring, but he wouldn't have been the one to pay the price for it, Charlie would have paid it in innocent blood. And damn if she hadn't looked resolved to complete her task when she'd walked away from him, shoulders squared, head high, simply because it was the only way out for her friends, for Miles.

Had he not gotten there in time to stop her, just a mere second before she'd plunged the knife into the man's heart, his sweet Charlie would have murdered in cold blood. She was an angel without wings, so loyal to him that she would dirty her own hands just to save his sorry hide from whatever came their way. It had been his choice to bring Nora to Drexel, and Charlie had been hurt because of it, she'd been beaten and almost broken to her core. After that, seeing those tears in her blue eyes as she looked up at him like a hero, he'd turned to the bottle again, trying to drink away the memory of those eyes. Charlie's eyes haunted him like a man possessed, those eyes that saw right through him to his very soul, that darkness inside him that she could see. Not once had she looked away from him, if anything she'd drawn herself closer to him after that, like she was handing herself over to be destroyed. And he'd done his best to distance himself from her as much as he could, focusing his attention on Nora instead, even if only for a short time.

There was no interest there, he looked at her and felt cold on the inside, though when he looked back at Charlie from time to time, he felt that fire spark to life inside him. It was wrong, he was a sick man to think about her the way he often did when he dared to let his mind wander without restraint. Miles wanted to feel her lips beneath his, to feel her body pressing against his in a way that was not at all appropriate for him to want. She was his niece, his flesh and blood, Ben's only daughter, and the only thing he could think of was bedding her at every given chance. He'd had more than a fair share of chances to get her there but he'd never taken advantage of the opportunity to do so, it was wrong. Already, he had tainted her purity with his orders to kill, he didn't need to send her straight to hell by taking her to bed with him. Still, every time she looked at him with those blue eyes for a moment too long, his resolve crumbled a little more, and she didn't even know what she was doing to him. If she knew, he was positive that she would have run from him in sheer terror and disgust at the things her Uncle Miles wanted to do to her.

He'd broken down not long after that, a handful of nights later maybe a week at best, he'd watched her look at him with that adoring look for hours and that had been the last bit he could take. After the others had gone to sleep, he had sought her out with every intention of making sure she was okay, and he'd found her looking so lost and vulnerable. Sitting on a ragged bed, shivering a little and staring out the window, until he'd closed the door and she turned to look at him with those eyes again. Miles had known then that he needed to tear out of that room like the devil himself was after him, but he'd been fixed to the spot by her gaze. She had looked at him and into him, but her eyes didn't show any fear, no disgust, she'd just looked at him as though she were about to break. He blamed it on the alcohol in his system, it had given him enough courage to walk over to her and sit by her side in silence, putting a hand over her wrist. Charlie had looked up at him, so trusting and so young in that moment, and he'd lost it, couldn't have stopped any more than he could have stopped breathing. It was the last time he could take her looking at him like that and not do something about it, because she'd been burning him alive from the inside out.

Or at least he thought he'd done something about it, he couldn't remember the details clearly, and it seemed more like a dream than anything. But even days later, he could still feel her beneath him, could remember the heat coming off of her body as he held her beneath him. In his memories, she hadn't resisted him at all when he'd come to her, Charlie had welcomed him with open arms and his name on her lips. He could still remember the feel of her body as he'd pushed inside her for the first time, that little gasp from her lips confirming what he already knew. That would send him to hell in a hand basket, that moment when he'd felt the resistance and then felt it give way a split second later. He was her first, he'd taken her virginity from her and she hadn't stopped him even then, even when he knew it had to have hurt on some level. God help him, he could still feel the way she'd gripped him and fit him like a glove, like he'd been made for her and her alone. The rest of it was all a blur to him though, up until the point when he'd felt her come apart in his arms, her eyes locking with his as she orgasmed around him, beneath him. Miles had been helpless against what he saw in those blue eyes and it had been his undoing, he'd thrust deep and held there as he groaned against her neck. Each twitch of his cock had been so wrong, so very wrong as he lay still with his niece and filled her full of his cum.

But the days after that, he wondered if it really had been a dream because he hadn't woken up with her the next morning, he was still fully dressed when he woke up. Then there was Charlie, she hadn't looked at him any differently or avoided him, so he wasn't entirely sure it had happened at all. He wasn't about to ask her though, if it had been real he didn't want to hurt her by not remembering it, so he kept quiet and let it go. There were more memories after that, similar to the first but more intense each time, like they'd been burned into his mind so he would never forget. Memories of her beneath him, pressed against a wall with him between her slender thighs, and each time he'd been undone by the look in her eyes. Each time he'd thrust into her so deeply when he came, never a single thought of pulling out of her, he wanted to mark her in a way that only he had ever done. Regardless of it being wrong, of it being more than a little bit of risk, Miles always emptied himself inside her as deeply as he could, because he needed it. Because as sick and twisted as it was, he had to do it because she was his, even if only in his mind, Charlie was his.


	2. Fading

Contrary to popular belief, walking across endless miles of land didn't happen in weeks, it took months to do. This trip was taking even more time because of all the frequent side stops they had been making through the course of the journey. Aaron was a liability, but one that Miles knew he couldn't get rid of because of Charlie, she'd gut him alive if he suggested sending the man back home. As it was, they'd gotten him in better shape so far, but he was still straggling behind for the third time that day. It grated on his nerves more than anything to have to stop and wait, or stop and have a break when the rest of them didn't need it. As if on cue, Charlie called up to him and Nora, “We need to stop and let Aaron rest for a minute.” Sighing heavily, Miles came to a halt and turned to face her, fully intent on telling her no until he saw that look on her face. It was that look that said 'you can stop or go on without me but I'm staying here' and he knew better than to argue with her.

“Ten minutes and then we move, we're out in the open.” He growled back at her as she frowned at him and then turned, going to see about Aaron as Nora shook her head. The older woman just crossed her arms over her chest, “You could be a little nicer to her, Miles. You've done nothing but push her to the breaking point ever since Maggie died, and you've gotten worse since we left Drexel's place.” Pointing at her, Miles came close to actually snarling a little, he didn't need to be reminded of that screw up, “Just keep quiet, she wanted my help and she's getting it, but I'll be damned if I'll baby her every step of the way. Don't throw it in my face, she does that often enough for the both of you.” Dropping his hand, he brushed by her and went to stand watch while the rest of them took a few minutes break. They really couldn't afford to be doing this, especially not out in the open where someone could pick them off with a good enough gun.

He hadn't had a minute of peace when he heard the dry grass crunching as one of them walked toward him. Turning his head, he had the words on the tip of his tongue until he saw those blue eyes and anything he would have said died right there. Looking away from her, he clenched his jaw a little, “What is it now, kid?” Reaching out, Charlie put a hand on his arm and he would have jumped away like he'd been burned if he hadn't held himself in check, “What's wrong with you, Miles? You won't talk to me anymore and you keep acting like I've done something wrong. If I did just tell me and I'll apologize for it.” Shrugging her hand off his arm, he managed to keep his composure, if he crumbled now he was going to be in trouble, “What's wrong with me? You want to go save your brother and despite my better judgment, I came along to help you. Now you're wanting to run off and save every kid you see along the way, pushing for us to keep stopping every few hours when we don't have the time. The longer we take getting to Philly, the less chance there will be that your brother stays alive, do you understand that?”

Looking back at her he knew he'd just struck a nerve, he could see the way her eyes darkened and he could see the tears trying to well up in them. That look could just about break a man's heart if his wasn't already so dark, “So what you're saying is that you wish you hadn't ever come with me then? Is that what this is all about, Miles, because I came to you for help and it messed up your perfect life?” Rather than giving her more ammunition to go at him with, he kept quiet and just stood there, staring her down in the hopes that she'd finally cringe and walk away. He'd looked at men with that same look and he'd watched them wilt under it, but she seemed to feed off of that darkness in his eyes. Oh she was so close to tears now, and if she did cry, he could use it against her and be done with this whole argument she was intent on having. She didn't though, she kept them from falling, “You promised me when Maggie died that you wouldn't leave me, but that's exactly what you want to do. So if you want to go, then go, I won't stop you and I won't beg you to stay with me. Just go, Miles, run away like you've always done, you seem to be so good at it anyway.”

Charlie didn't raise her voice, she didn't cuss, she just let him have it with both barrels in a voice that he honestly wasn't expecting from her. It stunned him that she'd tell him to go, and he couldn't formulate words fast enough to keep her from turning away from him. His mistake was when he reached out and grabbed her arm to turn her to him again, “Charlie, would you just-” She turned quicker than he'd seen her move outside of a fight and he felt the hand sting across his cheek, making Aaron and Nora both stand up and look at the two of them. Jerking her arm out of his hand, she glared up at him, “Don't touch me...if you don't care then just get away from me, Miles.” It was hissed out at him and he was just shell shocked at the way she was acting, enough that he didn't try and reach out to her again. But as she turned her back to him again to walk off, he hardened his gaze, “I don't know what the hell your problem is, kid, but you can lose the attitude, I'm trying to help you.”

How much wrong could one man do in five minutes? A lot from the way she stopped and looked back at him before that mouth opened again, “Help me? Is that what you call this, Miles? I have done everything you told me to do even when I didn't want to do it, just because you said I had to be strong enough to rescue Danny. Then you change over night into someone I don't even know anymore, and whatever happened, you're taking it all out on me like I did something wrong.” This time, he let her go, his cheek still stinging from where she'd slapped him so hard, something that still had him shocked. Charlie had actually struck him, and while it hadn't been a fist in his face, she'd made damn sure it would be something he'd feel for a while. Whatever her problem was this time, he really didn't know, but something wasn't right, she'd never reacted to him like that.

It bothered him more that he'd been attracted to the way that fire seemed to light in her eyes when she was angry with him. All the more reason to keep his distance from her, he didn't know even now if what was in his head had really happened. But the fact of the matter was that he couldn't get caught up on her, she was already dark enough because of him. Tainting her further would just destroy the woman she was, even if he wanted nothing more than to grab her right then and kiss that feisty mouth of hers. Honestly he could have cared less that Nora and Aaron were both there, when Charlie was mad she was one of the most beautiful creatures in the world. Ah hell, she was already fifty feet away from him, and he sighed before he took off jogging to catch up to her. This time, when he reached out and grabbed her arm, he caught her other hand when she swung at him, “Not this time, kid. Calm your ass down and talk to me.”

She struggled against him and Miles turned her around, wrapping her up in her own arms and holding them tight so she couldn't get loose. Tightening his hold on her made her be still, and he waited a few seconds before he leaned in a little, “I wouldn't push you if I didn't think you could take it, Charlie. And hell, if it's that time of the month, just say so instead of throwing a fit and hitting me, alright?” He was wary of the way she looked at him from over her shoulder, oh she was so pissed off at him that he was lucky she couldn't kill him with a single look. Careful not to let go of her arms, he shifted his hold a little until he could get his arms around her, it was a bad idea though. So close to her, he could feel the warmth of her body and smell the clean scent of the soap she'd used to bathe with early that morning. Figuring that stillness was better than her swinging at him, he rested his head against hers and closed his eyes, “What do you want from me, Charlie?”

Turning her head away, she struggled against him again and he held her tighter against his chest, “You said you loved me..said you wouldn't ever hurt me, and now all you do is yell at me and get mad at me, Miles.” Those words were like a blow in the stomach and he let her go instantly, taking a few steps back in shock. He'd said those words only in his head, in those thoughts of making love to her that night in the shack. God help him, it really had happened the way it had in his head, and he'd been drunk off his ass to the point he hadn't realized it was real after it happened. Swallowing a little, he looked at her when she turned to face him, he'd really tainted this angel because of his own sick desires for her. Taking a light breath, he tried to figure out what the hell he was supposed to do now, what did he say back to something like that?

Sure he'd fantasized about sleeping with her, but he hadn't honestly thought he would have acted on those desires. More than that, he hadn't expected her not to beat the shit out of him for trying it, but she hadn't, she'd let him, or wanted him to do it. Raking a hand through his hair, he sucked in a breath and looked away from her for a moment before bringing his gaze back to her, “Jesus...Charlie I'm sorry, I didn't..” He stopped there at the crushed look on her face when he said he was sorry, she'd wanted it happen, she accepted it and he'd just made it sound like he wished it hadn't. Even though he wanted to strangle her on a good day because she was just too good, or because she complained a little bit, he couldn't let her go off like this. Before she could turn and run, he grabbed her and hauled her up against his chest, hugging her tightly in his arms as he reached up and stroked her hair, “I'm not sorry it happened, kid...I'm sorry it happened the way it did.”

Grimacing a bit at the way it sounded almost hopeful, he sighed and kissed the top of her head, “It doesn't need to happen again, it can't. You understand that don't you?” Charlie shifted and socked him in the chest, pulling a grunt from his throat before he pulled her tighter against him to keep her from hitting him again. She tried again but he held her still until she relaxed just a little, “What the hell are you hitting me for now? Damnit, don't you understand what the hell that is, Charlie?” Looking up at him, he saw the angry and hurt tears in her eyes and he didn't quite know what to make of that. At least, he didn't until she spoke up, her voice barely a whisper, “After four times...you tell me it has to stop? Four times you've come to me and made love to me, Miles.”

It all made sense now, the memories, the different positions and times of day, all the times he'd 'dreamed' of her. None of it was a dream, he'd had sex with her, with Charlie, his sweet and beautiful angel who he never wanted to taint with his darkness. He'd done more than that, he had done the worst thing he could ever do to her, and in some dark part of his mind, he was jumping for joy to know that she wanted him too. Now it all made sense, why she was so mad at him for pushing so hard lately, it was his own fault in the end. Still, maybe he could save her somehow, get her to understand that he was sick and twisted, and she didn't need him. Above all that it was just wrong, he was her uncle, supposed to be her protector, and in the end she needed protection from him. If it had all started that night in that run-down shack they'd stayed in, it made him sick to think just how long he'd been sleeping with her. Four times wasn't a lot, but it was more than it ever should have been over the month and a half since that night.

Letting go of her, he reached up and wiped the tears away from her eyes a little awkwardly, he wasn't used to comforting someone. Frowning a little, he cupped her cheek and wasn't surprised when that hopeful look came back into her eyes, damnit, “After we rescue Danny, we...we need to talk about this, Charlie. Until then it can't happen again, not because I don't care, don't you ever think that, you hear me?” She nodded and his lips drew into a thin line before he dropped his hand away and leaned down to kiss her forehead, “Go get Nora and Aaron, we need to move. No more breaks today until dark, I mean it, kid.” Even though he could see she didn't like that very much, she didn't offer to argue and slipped by him without a word to go and do as he asked. Breathing out a little, he looked up at the sky and closed his eyes, if Ben was still alive, he'd kill him on sight for this. Hell, he wanted to kill himself on sight for doing it, but he'd wanted it, still wanted it, wrong as it was he still had the desire to pull her against him and lose himself in her eyes. His angel was a little less bright now, her pure white had faded to an off white, maybe ivory, he just had to keep her from turning as black as he knew he was.


	3. His Weakness

When they finally stopped for the night, Miles was certain that Aaron was about to literally drop to the ground, he'd been serious about no more stops unless it was vital. It meant they'd pushed the man almost to his breaking point but to his credit and Miles' relief, he wasn't fussing about the day. Charlie hadn't said anything to him about it either, she'd been mostly quiet for the day and that was something that had the ex general worried. There was not usually a day that went by when she was so quiet, the only thing he could think of was that she was upset over their argument earlier. Her eyes had said everything he needed to know, she didn't want to stop what they were doing, he'd made her want him and she didn't know how to handle it now. That really just made him feel like the lowest piece of trash walking the planet to know that he'd not only tainted her but made her want for things only he had ever given her. Now he'd said it couldn't happen anymore and it was likely that her body and mind couldn't handle that sudden stop, yeah he felt like a dick for that.

Nora worked to set up their camp with a little help from Aaron and Charlie stood off to the side for a minute or so, “I'll go gather more firewood, back in five.” She held up her crossbow and walked into the darkness of the woods and Miles felt his heart clench in his chest, she hadn't even looked at him. That tore at him more than anything and made him feel cold, like Charlie was his warmth and she had suddenly been removed from him, her light no longer touched him. Looking over at Nora, he nodded his head toward the direction Charlie went off in, “I need to go have a talk with the kid.” It was his way of saying not to come look for them, that he needed some time alone with Charlie to straighten things out between them. The older woman just nodded and he walked off to follow the path that his niece had taken a minute before he'd gone after her. He was quiet as he walked, looking around to see if she was anywhere close by because he knew the girl could move quickly, but he also didn't want to spook her and get socked in the face.

He found her quickly enough, standing beside a tree that overlooked a small stream, and that sight made him stop in his tracks just to stare at her. She was beautiful in the pale moonlight, her hair almost looking like it was glowing, and her smooth, tanned skin looked almost silvery. Every part of him wanted to go to her and wrap her up in his arms, tip her head back and kiss her until she was breathless against him. What stopped him was the shimmer on her cheeks and the way she held her stomach, she was crying and he wasn't quite sure why. It was enough to make him stay where he was, just watching her until she seemed to shiver and then hit her knees to throw up. Damnit she was sick, and that was not a good thing without a doctor or medicine to treat it, but he couldn't let her just hide away like this. Walking forward, he made sure she knew he was there as he knelt down beside her and swept her hair back from her face as she took in a breath and then threw up again. His other hand lifted to rub against her back as lightly as he could, “Just take it easy kid, take some small breaths and try to relax, it'll pass in a minute.”

Charlie just nodded weakly and stayed still, doing her best to calm herself down as she knelt there with him doing his best to comfort her. Leaning over a little, he looked at her and frowned at the tears on her cheeks, “How long have you been sick like this without telling anyone?” Swallowing a little, she turned those blue eyes up at him and he drew in a breath as she sniffled a little, “Just a couple of days...I think I ate something that didn't sit well with me, or it's just stress. I'll be fine, Miles, I promise.” He studied her for a long moment before he nodded toward the stream, “Drink and wash your mouth out, then you can tell me what you've eaten that I haven't.” Rather than arguing, she did as he told her and washed her mouth out first then took a few sips of water she cupped in her hands. When she was done, he helped her up from the ground and held out a few mint leaves to her, “Chew but don't swallow, it'll help get the taste out of your mouth. Not that mint is much better, but it's better than the alternative I think.” That got him a bit of a weak smile and she again did as she was told without question as he led her away from the stream to a fallen tree, sitting her down on it.

Kneeling in front of her, he reached up and cupped the side of her face, glad when she didn't feel too warm, it meant she wasn't feverish. Sighing a little, Miles stroked her cheek with his thumb, “Alright Charlie, tell me what you've eaten in the last few days, don't leave anything out. Even if you think you made a mistake on some berries or something, just tell me everything, okay?” Charlie nodded and took a breath, pausing to turn her head and spit out the mint which made him smile a bit, “I had some of the fish you and Aaron cooked the other day, the rabbit we had after that. Nora brought some blueberries the day after that and I had some of those, and I had some of the leftover jerky she gave me too. There was that bread I ate, there wasn't much of it left, just a few bites and Aaron told me I could have it if I wanted to.” Frowning a little, he thought over everything she said and then shook his head, “You're sure there was nothing else?” She nodded instantly and he believed her because Charlie didn't just forget something and she was too careful to have eaten something she wasn't sure of. Lifting his hand up from her face, he stroked her hair gently and he tensed when he saw that look in her eyes that was hopeful and so full of love that it made him want to run like hell.

“Damnit, Charlie..” He growled as he stood up and pulled her onto her feet, hauling her up against his chest before his mouth came down over hers. It was a bad idea, but he couldn't stop himself anymore than he could stop breathing the air around them, he needed her so badly he couldn't stand it. She seemed hesitant and that did make him pull back to look down at her, “Miles...you said we couldn't...I don't understand.” Leaning back down to her, he brushed his lips against hers and he could feel the increase in her heartbeat just from that single touch. There was no way he could see her daily and not have her, hold her and kiss her, the temptation was too much for him to try and resist for long, “Put your arms around me, kiss me back when I kiss you. I shouldn't do this, shouldn't want to and we both know it, but I can't stay away from you, I need you Charlie.” She drew in a breath and he watched her as she lifted her arms and wrapped them around his shoulders, pulling a soft groan from his throat when her body pressed firmly against his own. Their eyes met and he held her tighter around her waist with his left arm, his right hand cradling the back of her head. Tilting her head a little, she rose up onto her toes and pressed her lips against his, surprising him a little at the fact that she'd been the one to initiate that kiss.

Not even in his fuzzy memories had he ever remembered her being the one to make the first move, and it was a pleasant surprise that she did now. Turning with her, he backed her up against one of the bigger trees around them and pinned her there with his body so his hands were free. Oh he should not be doing this, not here and now, not ever really, it was wrong no matter how much she seemed to want the same thing from him. This time he wasn't drunk though, he was going to remember every single second of this, and the only way he would stop was if she told him to. Her hands shocked him out of his own mind and he hissed against her mouth when she slid her palms up his stomach and to his chest. When she'd gotten her hands under his shirt he didn't know, but he was enjoying the way she touched him so willingly. There wasn't time for slow this time though, not with Aaron and Nora waiting for them to come back from just gathering firewood and talking. Breaking the kiss, he leaned his forehead against hers while he untied the laces on her pants and drew in a few breaths, “If you don't want this, then tell me now, Charlie. Once chance to tell me not to.”

Her answer was to pull him into another kiss and that was good enough for him, and when the laces were undone, he slid his hand beneath the soft leather. In his mind he was just praying that she was wet enough already or this was probably going to hurt a little more than it had to. Relief flooded through him when he felt the slick moisture that greeted his fingers, and her pleased little moan against his mouth told him she'd be just fine. Tugging her pants open, thanking everything he could think of for how low down they laced up, he broke the kiss and grunted a little when her hand cupped his cock through his pants. He gave her a warning look that made her blush as he reached down to the backs of her thighs and lifted her up off of her feet so that her legs wrapped around his waist. Licking his lips a little, he braced her against the tree, opening his mouth to say something until her hands started unbuttoning his pants. It seemed like he wasn't the only eager one here, as she had the button undone and the zipper pulled down before he could even blink again.

Miles groaned quietly when she freed him from his pants and underwear, she could completely undo him with her hands alone, but he wasn't going to let that happen. Looking up at her, he shifted to give himself a comfortable position to stand in where he could still move, “Charlie..panties, now.” She blushed but her hands moved away from his cock instantly and she reached down with one of her hands to tug her panties to the side. Their eyes met again and Miles held his breath as he lifted her a little, positioned his cock against her and then thrust inside her quickly. His mouth covered hers and her little cry was muffled quietly against his mouth as he sank inside her until she gripped every inch of him. It was official, he was in his own private heaven and if he were to die right there, he'd die a happy man without a single doubt. Grasping at his control, he broke their kiss and held her tightly as he drew his hips back, sliding out of her a little before he thrust back inside. Her eyes fluttered closed and her lips parted, amazing him at the beauty of this woman in his arms, one he shouldn't be with, one who shouldn't enjoy this at all.

He set a quick pace that she seemed to like, one with deep, firm thrusts that ensured he wasn't going to last more than a couple minutes. It was all the time they had and she knew that too, and he knew she understood his urgency when she reached down between them to rub her clit while he moved. Where she'd learned that from he didn't know, but he was entranced by the sight of her touching herself while he thrust into her over and over again. This was going to be the image he never got rid of, watching his cock disappear inside her pussy while she played with herself. Oh he definitely wanted to repeat this again now, but in a different setting where they didn't have to hurry and he had time to truly enjoy her. She gasped and his gaze jerked up to her face to find her biting her bottom lip in a way that made him growl softly, “Stop that and rub faster, Charlie. Come on sweetheart, orgasm for me, don't close your eyes.” Charlie shivered hard and did as he asked her to, rubbing faster and a little more firmly against her clit as her gaze locked with his. He picked that moment to increase his own pace, settling for short, hard thrusts rather than pulling out very much.

“Miles..oh yes Miles please, please I'm so close!” She begged softly and he thought he just might die right there on the spot, that breathy little voice was the sweetest sound he'd ever heard. Holding her up with one hand and their position against the tree, he batted her hand away and replaced her fingers with his own. He rubbed firm little circles over her clit, making her legs tighten around his waist, pulling a groan from his throat, “Fuck..you feel so good, sweetheart, but I need you to orgasm. Give it to me, Charlie, let me see you fall apart in my arms, come on and let it go.” Her hands gripped his shoulders and he swore he heard her whimper before he felt that first tremor inside her and he pulled his hand away quickly. Bringing it up, he put it over her mouth to stifle her cries of pleasure as her inner walls pulsed and clenched around his cock, pulling a gasp from him. The pleasure of her orgasm around him was just too much for him to handle, and as soon as he was sure she wasn't going to make any noise, he moved his hand away from her mouth. Her eyes were still locked with his and that was his complete undoing, if he didn't cum within the next ten seconds, he would be shocked.

Gripping her thighs again, he held her gaze and thrust quickly twice, three times, and then he felt it with a sense of relief, the way his balls tightened and then he just let it all go. Sliding almost all the way out of her, he thrust back inside her, hard and deep before he groaned and felt his cock twitch and pulse inside her. It was the most amazing release he'd ever had, feeling the warmth of his own cum around his cock as he held himself deep inside her. Charlie didn't protest, if anything she held him tighter against her through his release and the end of her own. Leaning in, he kissed her softly as he rolled his hips in against hers, pulling little moans from her as he made sure to milk every last drop of cum from himself with her body. Miles held her like that for a minute longer before he broke their kiss and slowly pulled out of her, momentarily awed by the sight of his cum dripping out of her onto the ground beneath them. Shaking himself a little, he pulled a scrap of cloth from his back pocket and cleaned her up a little before he sat her down on her feet in front of him.

Neither of them said anything as she fixed her clothes while he cleaned himself off and then tucked his cock back inside his pants and fastened them up again. Tossing the cloth off into some thick brush, he looked back at her and took her hand, pulling her to him so he could hug her. Charlie was instantly winding her arms around him and he turned his face into her hair and took a deep breath, “Did I hurt you, sweetheart?” She shook her head and held him tight to her, so close that he could still feel the increased beat of her heart against his chest, “No Miles...it was wonderful, thank you.” He had to shake his head at that, he hadn't thought there was anything wonderful he'd done for her in all of that, “Don't ever thank me for that, Charlie. I'm the one who needs to be thanking you for letting me do it, and I don't understand why you want this, why you want me, maybe I never will.” She laughed, actually laughed and he thought she'd lost her mind as he leaned back to look at her curiously as she looked up at him, “You're an idiot, Miles. I want you, all of this, because I love you and I want to make you as happy as you make me every time you smile at me.”

Those words hit him hard and he swallowed a little, he'd thought she was mutually attracted and maybe a little confused, but damn if she wasn't in love with him. Not that he could tell her to stop, because he was as much in love with her as she was with him, even if it was wrong, even if it was sick and twisted on a level he couldn't comprehend. He just gave her a bit of a smirk rather than a smile and stole a quick kiss from her lips, “You're even more of an idiot for loving me. Now, get that firewood and get your ass moving back to camp before they come looking for us.” She smiled brightly at him and was in movement to do as he'd told her before he could say anything else, and he watched her as she gathered an armful of fallen branches. How had his resolve not to do this just disappeared so quickly when he'd spent all day building it up into a reinforced steel wall? Sighing a little, he watched her start back toward the camp site and he knew it was just her, simply because it was Charlie and she could tear down any of his walls. But this, oh he knew this was going to come back to bite him in the ass before it was over with, he didn't know how, but it would come back on him in a way that was going to knock him flat on his back.


	4. Hard Decisions

Miles took the first watch after everyone had bedded down for the night, sitting a few feet away from their camp looking out into the darkness. The last bottle of single malt he knew of anywhere was resting in his hand, almost empty, just another relic from the past. He'd been using it to drink away his thoughts of Charlie, but now it was a useless thing, he couldn't drink her away anymore than he could run away on his own. In every situation there was always an option, but this time he was effectively stuck where he was with her. What should have bothered him was that he didn't care if he was stuck with her, he didn't want to turn and run away this time. Every other woman was one he'd run out on for one reason or another, but Charlie's light, her warmth was like a drug he had to have. Being without her made that darkness rise back up inside him, threatening to choke him, to steal away what little happiness he'd found along this messed up journey for Danny. To lose her would be losing everything that even mattered anymore, and it should have terrified him to the core. It didn't.

Turning his head, he looked over to where she was sleeping on his bedroll; the guilt of what he'd done to her was there almost constantly in his mind. He'd made her kill when she didn't want to, exposed her to men like Drexel just for the life of someone he didn't even care for anymore. Hell was a fitting place for him now he figured, and why not, he'd killed innocent people, helped create a monster that ruled over them all. And he'd done things to Charlie that she should have killed him for, but she hadn't, she'd embraced everything without questioning it. She loved him the way he wanted to love her, a way that he was afraid to let himself fully sink down into, a place he'd never been in before. Ben would kill him if he were still alive, Rachel would kill him if she was and so would Maggie. Nora, Aaron and Danny were going to tie him up, beat him and then gut him, if his imagination was still accurate in that department. None of it scared him though, Miles would face all of it just for another chance to hold Charlie in his arms and feel her warmth seeping into him. 

Frowning a little at his thoughts, he tipped the bottle up and drained the last of it, so much for a good drink every now and then. Scrubbing a hand over his face, he sighed and then jerked his gaze up when he heard the dry crunch of leaves off to his left. Visibly he relaxed when he saw Charlie, nodding to her a little as she came over and sat down beside him, “Something on your mind, kid?” It was a slip of the tongue, he'd called her kid almost from the beginning and it was a hard habit to break, but rather than decking him one, she smiled. Reaching out, she took his hand and slid her fingers between his, leaning her head over on his shoulder, “No, I'm just not tired enough to sleep I guess.” This was awkward, a lot more than the sex part was because he was thinking clearly and here she was holding his head and resting up against his side. With any other woman, he wouldn't have to think about anything, he'd just lose himself in the bottle and whatever happened was what happened. This one though, his Charlie, she deserved better than him for a whole bag full of reasons that he couldn't make her believe for a minute. If he told her, she'd argue that he was a good man and that's all that mattered to her, whether he believed it or not she'd argue the point. 

“What about you Miles, is there something on your mind?” He turned his head to look at her and found her already staring up at him with those deep blue eyes that made him absolutely crazy. Looking away after a few seconds, he looked down at her hand holding his, “I'm your Uncle, Charlie. You don't know anything about me, but you still want all this. Why me and not that kid that's been following you around halfway across the republic?” Honestly he was expecting her to throw a fit and scream at him, or get offended and start crying, women were tricky creatures but he'd known enough of them to know how they would react for the most part. Not this one though, of course she wasn't going to react in a way he was prepared for, nothing could ever be so simple with her. She shifted against his shoulder and gave his hand a squeeze, “It doesn't work like that and you know it, Miles. I can't just love someone because it's what I should do, or stop loving you because I shouldn't. Yeah, I know it's wrong because everyone says it is, but you make me happy just being here with me, isn't that enough?” 

Lifting her head away from his shoulder, she looked up at him and he tensed a little as he turned his head to look at her, “You could do better, someone younger, someone who doesn't have so much blood on their hands.” Charlie shook her head and leaned in toward him, making his heartbeat increase in pace at the look in her eyes, “I don't want someone else, Miles. All I want is you, not because you were the first man who got close to me or the one who came with me on this journey to get Danny back. You make me happy, even if you don't think you’re good enough or that it's wrong, I can't let you go, I need you.” Pulling his hand away from hers, he lifted it up to cup the side of her face, casting a cautious glance back to Aaron and Nora to ensure they were sleeping still. They were going to find out sooner or later he knew, but he couldn't deal with them and himself at the same time, “What about your brother, the people that care about you? You know they're not going to approve of this.” Their eyes met again and he leaned a little closer to her, almost enough that their lips were touching again, but he was waiting, for her. 

Charlie's eyes closed when she felt the warmth of his breath against her mouth, the taste of the alcohol still on his breath, “I know they won't...nothing will take me away from you, Miles. I'll give up everything if you just stay with me.” That did it, that was the final nail in his own coffin and he couldn't question her anymore about it, she'd made up her mind and was ready to throw away everything for him. Pulling her forward, he caught her lips against his own, gently nudging them apart with his tongue until he could dip inside her mouth. She didn't fight him either; she just melted against him and clutched his shirt in both of her hands while she kissed him back. It didn't last long but it didn't need to, there was enough feeling behind that kiss that she knew everything she needed to know from him. He would stay, right or wrong, Miles wasn't going to cut ties and run out on her as long as she wanted him to be there with her. When he leaned back, he opened his mouth to say something, but the distinctive snap of a stick, or a twig, out in the forest made him tense up. Letting go of her completely, he reached down and took hold of his sword; keeping his voice at a whisper, “Get back, Charlie. Wake up Nora, she'll know what to do, but you stay back and run if they come after you. I'll find you if you do, I promise.” For a half second, he thought she might argue with him over everything, but she surprised him again and got up almost casually. 

He didn't wait for her to reach Nora, he stood up and slid his sword free of it's sheath as a man came into view from the shadows at his left and Miles felt his blood run cold. “General Matheson, what a pleasant surprise. Kill the others, we take the general in alive, men.” That had Nora and Aaron both in movement to get in front of Charlie and Miles stared down the man on horseback, the torturer of the militia, Strausser. More men came out from around him and started toward Miles, which was fine with him, better at him than at Charlie. He charged into the fight and clashed swords with the first man he reached, pushing up with his sword hand and landing a well-placed kick to the militiaman's stomach. Twisting off to one side, he brought the sword down and then across, slicing a deep gash over the man's neck before he moved on to the next one. What bothered him was when Nora and Aaron ran into the fight to help him, leaving Charlie by herself, not that she couldn't fight, he knew she could. But this was Strausser; if he got his hands on her Miles knew what she would look like before morning, and it made his stomach churn painfully. Running another man through with his sword, he turned his head back toward her, “Damn it Charlie, run! Get out of here now!” 

Relief went through him when she turned and started running, but it was short lived as Strausser dug his heels into the sides of the horse and went after her. Nora whirled around quickly as another man fell at her feet, “We'll be fine, get her out, Miles.” Even if he hadn't been given the blessing to leave them there, he would have went after her anyway, losing her was not an option anywhere in his mind. Turning on his heel, he took off running as fast as he could, grabbing up their packs as he passed them by, slinging his over his shoulder and carrying hers in his other hand. Anger burned through him, almost a murderous rage when Strausser caught up to her and kicked her between her shoulders, easily toppling her over onto the ground. To her credit, she came back up fighting when he dismounted and jerked her up by her hair though it wasn't going to do her any good. She hit him twice in the face before he paid her back with one of his own just as Miles caught up to them and slammed into the man as hard as he could. The three of them went crashing to the ground and held Strausser as Charlie rolled and scrambled back out of the way as quick as she could. 

Miles rolled the man beneath him and slammed a fist into his face, drawing back and hitting him again before he felt Charlie pulling frantically at his jacket, “Get up, we have to go, Miles! Come on!” Just for good measure, he hit Strausser again before he got back up to his feet and grabbed the pack he'd dropped when he got to them. Not even bothering to look back and see what had her so worried, he took her hand and started running, half dragging her with him until she found the right pace. He was going to hear about this from her later he was sure, even though she knew they had to run, she wasn't going to like that they'd left anyone behind. It couldn't be helped though; if she wanted to rescue Danny then she was going to have to start making sacrifices in some situations. Right now he could give her credit, she wasn't doing anything but running as fast as her feet could carry her through the forest. Pushing her three steps ahead of him, he looked back to make sure they weren't being followed yet, they would be when Strausser was ready though. The man was relentless, they weren't going to be able to slow down at all after this, but there was nothing he could do about that, other than stay with her and keep her safe. 

He didn't know how long they ran, but when he finally stopped they were both out of breath and his legs burned like he'd just run halfway across Texas. Charlie hit her knees and threw up off to one side and he frowned at that, getting his legs to cooperate and walk over to her. Reaching out, he held her hair back away from her face, “Slower breaths, kid. You need to calm down, we have to keep moving.” She nodded and he stayed there behind her until she started getting up again, at which point he let go of her hair and stepped back. Looking over at him, she wiped at her eyes a little, “We just...we left them back there, Miles.” Sighing a little, he put a hand on her shoulder and met her eyes, “There wasn't a choice in the matter, you want Danny alive, that means you need to live long enough to get to him. Nora knows the way, she'll catch up.” When she didn't say anything else, he reached down and took her hand, holding it firmly in his as he started walking in the direction they'd been running. She followed without an argument, but she looked more tired than usual, maybe a little weaker, and that made him worry more than anything else. If she was sick with something more than just and upset stomach from bad food, he couldn't do anything to help her. There were no more hospitals, no medicines that were reliable, she would die if it was something serious, but he didn't know what else to do.

Stopping to let her rest and recover wasn't an option out here, Strausser was still too close for comfort and Miles would damn well pick her up and carry her the rest of the way just to keep her out of his hands. Looking over at her, he gave her hand a squeeze, “Just hang in there a couple of days, Charlie. We'll stop when we can, but we need to put some distance between us and them back there, alright?” She nodded wearily but didn't argue, she just kept walking at his side and he hoped he hadn't just signed her death warrant with this. If he had, well, he'd just shoot himself and save everyone else the trouble of doing it, because without her there wasn't a point anymore. He didn't know Danny, hadn't seen the kid since he was a newborn, he could go out with being the asshole that never came to save him. As long as it meant staying with Charlie no matter where she went, even if it meant dying, he was going to stay right there with her like he promised.


	5. On The Run

Miles kept Charlie moving all but a few hours each night for three days before he finally felt that they were far enough ahead of Strausser to be able to relax a little. Nora and Aaron had caught back up to them as he'd expected them to do just a few hours ago, and they were unharmed for the most part. They weren't the ones he was worried about though, Charlie was the one he was worried about, she didn't look so good anymore after all this. For the last day, he'd noticed that she was pale and her steps were slower than they'd ever been before, and she hadn't been eating very much. He just hadn't had time to be able to stop and let her rest until now, but that didn't absolve him of his worries over her either, something was wrong. It was Nora who stopped first once it was just too dark to keep walking safely, “We'll stop here for the night, everyone needs some rest.” Not in the mood to argue the point, Miles had just nodded and helped to set up their camp as quickly as possible, for Charlie's sake more than anything. Aaron had been watching her like a hawk ever since they'd all gotten back together, he knew as well as Miles did that something was wrong with her. 

At the moment, he was rolling out his bedroll beside hers so he could keep an eye on her during the night when he saw her move suddenly, away from the camp. Getting up to his feet, he went after her, though she didn't go more than thirty feet from them before she was on her knees in a position he was too familiar with lately. Wordlessly, he came up to her and held her hair away from her face and rubbed her back to try and help soothe her as best he could. It was a time he wished that Maggie hadn't died, she would have been able to do something for his angel at least, as it stood he was just useless in this area. “It's gonna be okay, you know that don't you, Charlie?” He asked quietly, though it was more to reassure himself than it was to reassure her, he was more worried than he was going to let on. She nodded and rinsed her mouth out with a little water before she moved to get up, swaying on her feet when she stood up too quickly. That was when Miles had stood by long enough, he didn't even let her steady herself before he scooped her up in his arms, “Argue with me some other time, you're going to bed.” 

She was blushing, but where she was so pale it just looked like she was feverish and he felt his heart tighten painfully in his chest, God help him if she didn't get better, it would kill him too. Carrying her back to camp, he knelt down and put her on her bedroll, taking her blanket and pulling it up over her to see that she kept warm. Nora just watched curiously, she couldn't remember ever seeing Miles take care of anyone like he was taking care of her at the moment. It just wasn't something he did at all, he cared about people, but he hadn't taken it on himself to physically administer care for a person and it had her a little shocked to be honest. Sitting down on his own bedroll right next to her, he reached out and brushed her hair away from her face, frowning a little at the tender gesture, “Get some rest, kid, you look like hell.” As he expected, she just smiled at him wearily, not arguing as she closed her eyes a few seconds later, and he knew she'd be asleep in under five minutes. Aaron took a drink of the water from his canteen and looked at her before his eyes moved to Miles, “How long has she been like that anyway, Miles?” 

Breathing out a heavy sigh, he rubbed a hand over his face and looked away from her to give Aaron his attention, “From what she said, about a week, give or take a few days.” The younger man tensed and he knew that they'd both had the same thought, she wasn't getting any better and that was not a good sign. In all honesty, Miles had never felt so useless in his life as he did right then, he could save her from men with guns and swords, take on the militia itself. But he couldn't save her if she was sick, there were no more quick fixes for being sick, and if it was bad enough he knew he was going to have to watch her die. “Miles that's...if we don't find her help from somewhere, you know what could happen to her.” Aaron said carefully as he looked over at Charlie more than he did at Miles, the worry clear in his eyes because he'd seen what could happen when people got sick these days. Dropping his hand down, he rested it over one of hers that was just barely peeking out from under the blanket, “I know that, but I'm not gonna let her die. No matter what it takes, I won't let Charlie die, you can believe me or not, I don't care.” 

For a brief moment, Nora and Aaron both saw the pained look that crossed his face when he looked down at Charlie, and it was just best that they stay quiet. Shifting a little, he laid down on his side facing her and brought her in against his chest a little awkwardly at best, but he held her anyway, “Nora, take the first watch, I'll take the second.” It wasn't a request, it was an order and he left no room for argument as he settled down with her wrapped securely in his arms. He could care less if they knew anything or thought they knew anything about the whole situation, nothing mattered except the safety of the woman in his arms. The steady beating of her heart and the warmth of her breath against his chest finally relaxed him enough that he drifted off to sleep there against her. Only in his dreams did he dare to think of the future, a place where there was no more running and fighting, no more putting blood on her innocent hands. He wanted more than just that though, he wanted things he'd never wanted with another woman in all his life, things he didn't deserve and he wasn't sure she would ever be willing to give him.

 

_Miles' Dream/Flashback Sequence_

“ _So what's on your mind that makes it impossible for you to sleep?” Miles asked as he sat down beside Charlie on the raggedy looking bed where she'd laid out her bedding for the night. She was quiet at first, just sitting there like she had to collect herself before she could even answer, “I'm worried we won't make it to Danny in time, worried that maybe I'm not strong enough to save him. Worried that I might let you down somehow.” It wasn't the whole response he'd been expecting from her, the worries about Danny were normal, but worrying about failing him, it didn't make much sense. He'd just prepared as much of a speech as he was going to be able to give when their gazes met and Miles felt the words collectively die on his tongue. This wasn't a good idea, somewhere in his alcohol filled brain there was a voice that was telling him to just get up and run, leave while he still had the chance to. He didn't do that though, he sat there and looked at her, letting those blue eyes completely undo him because he had no other choice. Ever since she'd first smiled at him, really smiled, he'd been lost to what she could do with just a look, consumed by it almost. All of it was wrong though, everything he felt for her was so wrong that he should have just cut ties with her and run as fast as he could to get away from her before he did something stupid._

_It was too late for that now though, with the alcohol lowering his inhibitions he didn't think of anything else but her, how much he'd wanted her, burned for her. He let out a breath and reached for her, a little surprised that she didn't try and pull away when he slid his hand through her hair to rest on the back of her neck. Tightening his hold on her, he brought Charlie toward him and leaned in, settling his lips over hers in a kiss that had none of his desire for her restrained. This would be the moment when she would freak out and run from him, he just knew it would be because of what they were, who they were. He was kissing his niece, holding her there with him as he nudged her lips to part before he dipped his tongue into her mouth to taste her, just once. She didn't pull away from him as he expected though, he heard her surprised little gasp and thought that this would be the moment where she ran screaming. Instead, he found himself with an armful of Charlie, so soft and warm against him, her mouth eager against his now that the initial shock of things was over for her._

_She was kissing him back, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and nearly crawling into his lap just to get closer to him like she couldn't get enough. That alone should have stopped him in his tracks, but it didn't do anything except make him want her even more than he already did. To know she was willing just packed up the rest of his brain and sent it off on it's own little vacation, what of it was left to think with anyway. His arms moved to curl around her, lifting and turning as he pressed her down against the bed, laying over her so he could free his hands again. One of his hands moved down to grab the hem of her tank top and pull it up until it was bunched up beneath her arms. Breaking their kiss, he slid down a little to eye the soft cotton that held her breasts, having to take just a few seconds to calm himself. He reached up and gently pulled the material up, freeing the full, pert orbs from the confines of the bra she was wearing. Had he been a lesser man, Miles was positive he would have lost it right then, lost it at the sight of those breasts he'd been dreaming about._

_As it was, he'd had enough of dreaming and enough of wanting to last him for a while, she hadn't decked him one yet so he was going to make the most of it. Dipping his head down, he kissed along the smooth top of her left breast, slowly working his way down to the hard, pink nipple that just begged for his attention. In his head he groaned at that beautiful sight a second before he parted his lips and drew it into his mouth, pulling another gasp from her in the process. Her hands flew down to delve her fingers into his hair as he flicked his tongue over the taut little bud in his mouth, shivering hard at the taste of her skin. Beneath him she was lifting up a little more each time he teased her nipple, and he shifted to press the upper part of his thigh between her legs. Charlie mewled so softly he almost didn't hear her but he felt the way she pressed herself against him, clearly showing him she wanted more even if she didn't ask for it by name. Miles resigned himself to the fact that he was going to hell anyway, so he might as well do it right since it was going to happen. He groaned softly when her hands tightened in his hair as he sucked on the nipple between his lips, letting her try to pull him closer, make him do more._

_Holding his weight up on one arm and his knees, his free hand slid down to her pants, untying the laces on them and tugging a little to get them to loosen around her. Letting the nipple slip free of his lips, he turned his head to lavish attention on the other one as Charlie struggled and squirmed out of her shirt and bra. Keeping her legs nudged apart with his between them, he slid his hand over the smooth skin of her stomach all the way down to her waist. He didn't stop there, his hand slid lower and his fingers slipped beneath the waistband of her panties, and still she didn't stop him. Skilled fingers found her clit within seconds and he circled the tips of his fingers around it, teasing her, touching but not quite giving in to what she wanted. She was wet already though, he could feel it coating his fingers and it just made him harder for her, his erection straining against his pants. This couldn't be rushed though, alcohol muddled brain or not he knew she'd never done this before, he could tell by the way she looked at him that she hadn't. Pulling his hand away, he raised up over her and clumsily pulled his shirt off over his head, somewhat amused by the look on her face when he did._

_Charlie liked what she saw and was surprised to see the firm, lean body he hid beneath those clothes, and he could see that in her eyes as she looked him over. Well, he wasn't some teenage boy with rock hard abs and all that, but if she was happy with how he looked then who was he to say anything different. Were it not for the alcohol in his system at the moment, he knew he might have been able to make things better for her, but then he might not have even been there if not for it. Together, they worked to get her pants and boots off quietly and she did her best to help him fumble around with his own until they were on the floor by the bed. Now she looked somewhat nervous, but he already knew why that was and leaned down over her to cover her mouth in another kiss. He'd left his underwear on for a reason, so he didn't scare her anymore than she would be by everything else happening to her. Miles groaned against her mouth as she learned how to kiss him back the way he wanted her to, hoping that she wouldn't need much longer to be ready for him. See, he could be aware of things even if he was drunk, he could still make it as good for her as he was able to when he was like this._

_Reaching back down, he tugged the cloth of her panties to one side and brought his fingers down to her entrance, touching softly, testing how wet she was. Not enough yet, but if he didn't get a move on with getting her there, he was going to either pass out or hurt her more than it was going to already. Sliding his fingers back up, he found her clit again and rubbed firm little circles over it as she squirmed beneath him and whimpered against his mouth. He broke the kiss to shush her gently, trying to get her to be as quiet as she could so the others wouldn't hear, wouldn't come to see if she was okay. Their eyes met and he stroked her hair away from her face, trying to will her to orgasm without having to tell her she needed to. She was so close he could almost feel it in her, and he was determined that she was going to have this pleasure even if it killed him to wait for her. It was rather painful as it stood at the moment anyway, he was harder than he'd ever been in his life and he was just aching to slide inside her and soothe that need he felt for this woman._

_Picking up the pace with his fingers, he saw the way her eyes grew darker and he covered her mouth just a split second before she shattered beneath him. To her credit she kept quiet other than a sound he thought was a gasp as her hands gripped his shoulders tightly and her hips pushed up against his hand. He wanted to be able to look at her, watch her as she came apart beneath him because of his touch, but he couldn't risk her getting too loud so he had to just feel it. Moving his fingers away from her clit, he dipped them back down to see if she was ready and he almost came when he felt how slick and wet she was now. There couldn't be anymore waiting or he'd lose it, he had to have her right then, and it was that driving thought that had him lifting up enough to shove his underwear to his knees. It wasn't elegant or even slightly romantic, nothing like she deserved but she was pulling him back to her as soon as he had his cock free of the confines of the cloth. He didn't bother with hers, he left them pulled to one side and settled down against her, clenching his jaw tightly when they were pressed together intimately._

“ _Charlie...is this-” He didn't get to finish his question before her lips were on his and he felt her legs spread a little wider for him, that was all the answer he needed. Miles kissed her as best he knew how and could at the time as he shifted and drew his hips back until he was just lightly resting the head of his cock against her entrance. This was going to send him straight to hell and he knew it, but he didn't care as long as he could feel her one time, just once. His arms slid beneath hers and he cradled her head in both hands, leaning back so he could look down at her, he had to see her face for this. Slowly, he pressed his hips forward and he saw her wince, he could feel that resistance so he stopped and took a breath, going too slow was going to hurt her more. Her hands rested against his chest and he licked his lips a little before he pushed forward firmly, quickly enough that it didn't take more than a second to slide inside her. It tore at him to see that flash of pain in her eyes from it, he'd felt her hymen give way and he did feel bad for that, but it all went right out the window when he felt her around him. She was so hot and tight inside that it had him shivering against her, not even fully inside her and he was already on the verge of losing it._

_Not able to help himself, Miles pushed again, not stopping until he was completely inside her but he was just praying he hadn't hurt her more because of that. She hadn't say anything, hadn't hit him to make him stop, she'd just stayed still and soft beneath him, looking up at him with a mixture of awe, a hint of pain and something he didn't dare to name. Taking a shuddering breath, he moved just a little, rocking his hips twice before he grew still again, just to see how she reacted. That surprised look in her eyes was enough to let him know that she could feel something other than the sting of having her virginity taken. Even so, he started slowly with the rocking motions, letting her get used to feeling him so deep inside her so her body could adjust to this. It took a minute or two before she started getting more relaxed, and he could see that look in her eyes that was screaming for him to do more. He was more than ready for that though and he drew his hips back a little, paused and then pushed back inside her, awed at the look of pleasure that came across her face. No woman had ever looked at him that way, had never looked so pleased to have him inside her than Charlie did right then beneath him. With a single look, she had ruined him for any other woman in the entire world, he was wrapped around her little finger until the day he died._

_He let her set their pace though, moving and adjusting to her reactions until he found the angle she wanted, the pace she needed and just the right thrust to make her head tip back and her lips part in silent little moans for him. They were quiet because they had to be, but he was imagining what it might be like if she didn't have to be quiet, if she could let him hear her sounds of pleasure. Miles took his time as much as he could, drawing back and thrusting into her smooth and deep, loving the way she looked when she could feel him pressed so far inside her. It was like she was feeling the most pleasurable thing in the world and was just awed by it, and damn those blue eyes of her the way they seemed to just burn for him. That proved to be his undoing though, looking into her eyes while he made love to her, because that's what this was, it couldn't be anything else. For Charlie, his sweet little angel, it would always been making love to her because nothing else would even come close to doing her justice. Gathering her closer in his arms, he brought his lips down against hers again to keep her sounds muffled as he increased his pace and the firmness of his thrusts._

_She held him tightly when he did, her fingernails digging into his back as he settled into quick, firm thrusts that were apparently driving her wild beneath him. That was good, very good if he had half a brain to think about it, that she could be so eager and responsive like this, to him of all people. It didn't last much longer though, he felt her tense up and then he had to stop completely when those wet, silky walls clamped down around him and made his head swim. Charlie trembled and writhed beneath him, gasping and whimpering quietly against his mouth as she rode out the pleasure of her second orgasm with him. Only when she'd loosened around him enough to let him think straight did he start moving again, curling his arms around her completely and holding her in place. Turning his head away, he buried his face against her neck, losing count of his thrusts until he felt that tight feeling in his balls. Pulling almost all the way out, he thrust one more time, quick and hard, holding her still so that he was as deep inside her as he could get. Miles groaned out her name against her warm skin as his cock throbbed and twitched inside her, filling her with warm, sticky cum that he was very carefully not thinking about._

_Breathing deeply, he lay there against her, holding her like his life depended on keeping his arms around her, and in that moment it really did depend on that. He'd just taken her virginity, she'd been willing but he'd done it anyway, not some random woman he'd met, but his niece, his Charlie. She had let him do all of this, encouraged him to do it with her reactions to him, and he wasn't quite sure how to process that information. The alcohol finally caught up with him though, and he'd barely made it to her side before he passed out, much to his dismay._

Miles woke up with somewhat of a start, and the definite beginnings of a hard on after that dream, being lucky that he hadn't made a fool of himself because of it too. Thankfully enough, he was curled up with Charlie and her body was hiding the quite obvious bulge in the front of his pants now. It looked like Aaron was on second watch and everything was still quiet, including the woman in his arms, who looked like she was sleeping like a baby. The sky was starting to get a bit lighter, signaling the start of the day and everything was peaceful, for about five seconds after he'd thought that. There was a brief moment where he saw blue eyes open slowly, and then she was a blur of movement, scrambling away from him and almost falling as she ran to one side of the camp. Well, that was a pleasant way to wake up and start a day, she'd just about socked him one, had it not been for quick reflexes of his own to move him out of the way of that danger. Aaron was looking at her and the noise had woken Nora who turned in her direction with a curious but somewhat worried look. Great, the last thing he needed was a woman thinking about this too much, she'd start pestering him to take more breaks so Charlie could rest. 

Dragging himself to his feet, he adjusted his jacket to hide the still obvious arousal from his dream and then walked over to where Charlie was kneeling on the ground. He knelt down beside her put an arm around her shoulders, smoothing her hair away from her face, “You sure you're gonna be okay, kid?” She nodded weakly and then leaned against him for support as she rubbed her stomach with one of her hands, “Can't stay sick forever…right?” Miles just looked at her as she tried to make light of her situation, pressing a kiss to the top of her head as he held her, “Yeah kid, you're right. If you can make it a few more days, we'll stop at a village and see if they have a doctor, okay?” Of course she did as he expected and just nodded obediently before he stood up and lifted her with him, staying still until he was sure she was steady enough on her feet to let go. Bringing his hand around to the side of her face, he held her gently and met her eyes, “If it gets too bad, you tell me, you don't look so good right now as it is. I'll take care of you, Charlie, but you have to tell me when it's too much.” She gave him a weak smile and a nod before she moved away and went back to her bedroll to start packing things up. There was no way she could go on like this much longer, it was going to kill her if something was wrong, but the best he could do was getting to a village where there might be a doctor.


	6. The Pain Of Separation

Once everyone had gotten their things together and had eaten what little they'd managed to find or kill for breakfast, Miles had started them off on the road again. He was in the lead again by default, Nora and Aaron behind him and Charlie tagging along behind the rest of them, though never too far from Aaron. The man was worried about her and kept a close eye on her just because it was the only thing he could really do for her at this point. She hadn't eaten much that morning, though Miles had said that she hadn't been eating much at all after he'd noticed her getting sick so often. That was part of the reason she was as weak as she was now, because she wasn't eating and when she did eat, it just came back up a little while later. Worrying about her was one of the reasons he was pushing all of them to get moving quickly, wanting to get to a village or somewhere that might have someone or something that could help her. What he couldn't do was turn around and look at her, it cut him deeply to see her so pale and weak, fearful that she might really die from whatever this was that was making her sick. So he just kept walking and facing ahead, knowing that if he ever looked at her that he was going to break apart, show his weakness to anyone looking at him. 

He kept everyone moving, up until the point Aaron shouted and Miles' blood ran cold, “Miles help me, she just fainted! Miles!” There wasn't even a rational thought in his head as he dropped everything and turned around so fast that Nora had to take a sidestep to keep from getting run over when he took off running. Aaron was holding her up when Miles reached him, not even thinking as he took her in his arms and cradled her against him as he sank down to the ground. Brushing her hair back from her face, he checked her pulse just to reassure himself that she wasn't dead, he had to be sure of that. Shifting her in his arms, he rested her head against his shoulder and dropped his head to rest against hers, “Don't do this to me, Charlie, open your eyes.” It was close to begging, needing to see those blue eyes open and look up at him again just to let him know that she was going to be okay. She didn't though, she was just there against him, and he knew it was because she was just too weak for all this walking and running. Cursing in his head, Miles pulled her pack off and handed it over to Aaron before he lifted her up and cradled her against his chest, “Keep moving, we need to find somewhere to stop for the night, preferably a village with a doctor.”

It was harder on him to carry her, but they didn't have time to stand around and just hope she'd come around again, the longer they waited now, the more danger she was in. And if he was honest with himself in all of this, he would gladly carry her across the entire damned country if it meant saving her life. She wasn't all that heavy though, or maybe it was just the adrenaline that pumped through his veins at the first real taste of fear he'd had in years. This woman was the light he needed to stay alive even though it was wrong, even though he knew he shouldn't dare to touch her the way he did. None of that would matter anymore if she died in his arms, something he would never recover from because he was so far gone in his love for her that it would destroy him. He'd join her if she died, because without Charlie to smile at him, to look up at him with those impossibly big blue eyes, nothing would ever be worth it. Just as he'd thought before, he could handle being the piece of dirt that never showed up to save Danny, if it meant dying with her in his arms just to go with her wherever she went, he'd be there at her side. 

Those thoughts were what made him move faster, he didn't do well with these kinds of situations where there were no options to be had. He liked to be able to choose from the outcomes, but with this, Charlie was going to live or she was going to die, simple as that. Hauling his ass across the country as fast as he could meant that she might live, anything less than running himself until he couldn't run anymore meant death for her. Surprisingly enough for him, Nora and Aaron matched his almost frantic pace, and there wasn't even a complaint from Aaron about how fast they were having to move. It seemed that he felt similar to the way he did about Charlie, losing her wasn't an option, but for an entirely different reason between the two of them. In the middle of the day it was hot though, and the sun just beat down on him, bringing little trails of sweat down the side of his face. Nothing like what he'd faced in the Marines though, he'd been through a hell of a lot worse, and in full combat gear at the time, so this was nothing. Licking his lips a little, he glanced down at her and held her a little more firmly against him, “Just stay with me, Charlie, don't you give up. I'll find help for you, I swear I will.” Like his words would make it any better, he knew it wouldn't help anything but he said them anyway because he meant them with every breath he took. 

Miles was thoroughly exhausted by the time they dragged themselves through the gates of a village they had blessedly been able to find. He was damp with sweat and Charlie wasn't much better off, but she hadn't woken up even once on the whole way, and that had him worried. The men at the village entrance tried to get him to let go of her, but he wouldn't, he demanded to be shown to the doctor and he would carry her there himself. Nora and Aaron went with one group of men while he went with two others who led him to the village doctor, a kind looking woman who had to be in her sixties or older. She ushered Miles inside and he followed her into the house as she closed the door in the face of the two men outside, “Bring her into the side room, son. Put her there on the bed and help me get her out of these filthy clothes.” He was still breathing heavily as he held Charlie long enough for the woman to pull her boots off and put them aside before he lowered her down onto the bed. One would think he'd had enough experience undoing her clothes or getting her out of them to manage, but his tired hands shook so much that he thought he was more of a bother than anything. 

The woman didn't seem to mind it all that much though as she tugged Charlie's pants off of her and draped them over the back of a chair. Miles worked her tank top off and did the same with it, standing off to one side as the woman covered her with a sheet just to keep her body out of sight of anyone who might pass through. Opening up a worn bag, she took out a stethoscope and turned slightly to look at Miles, “Forgive my manners, I'm Kay Ryan, town doctor for the last twenty five years.” She smiled warmly enough that he finally relaxed and slumped into the chair that Charlie's clothes were hanging on, nodding his head a little toward her, “Miles...Miles Matheson.” That got a reaction, he saw her tense and he regretted even uttering his name, he knew the kinds of things that people knew about him. Sighing heavily, he shook his head and looked down at the floor, “Not the same man I was in the past, I've changed.” Going around to the other side of the bed, Kay listened to a few locations around Charlie's chest and stomach area before she looked back up at him, “A good woman in a man's life is enough to change his ways sometimes, General. I'll not tell your secret while you're here, so long as you don't go causing any kind of trouble while you're in town. Though I'd wager with a pretty girl like this, the last thing on your mind would be trouble. Now, enough bantering, tell me what's been wrong with the poor dear and I'll see what I can do for her.”

Easier said than done really, he didn't know what had been wrong with Charlie other than her throwing up much too often over the last week. Sighing a little, he held his hands up helplessly because he really didn't know what else to tell her, “I don't know really. Kid's been sick for a week, throwing up and not eating all that well, she said it might have been something she ate.” Kay nodded as she listened and reached out to touch Charlie's forehead for a few moments before she withdrew it and looked down on her, “Doesn't feel like she has a fever, could very well be something she's eaten, or something else entirely. I'll give her some tea and settle her in for the night, we'll see how she's feeling in the morning. Until I can talk to her, that's the best I can do for you.” Miles felt his heart sink a little but he nodded and let the woman usher him out of the room so Charlie could rest for a little while. Shooing him off into the kitchen, Kay motioned for him to sit down at the table, and he did so quietly while she put on a small pot of tea for Charlie and a pot of coffee for them, he hoped. Turning back to him, he became aware of this woman looking at him intently and he tensed up a little, “There something else wrong that you didn't tell me back there, or did you change your mind about not letting the village in on my identity?”

Sitting down across from him, Kay shook her head a little, “You're a dangerous man, General, and yet when you say you're not the same as you were before, you really mean that. Why, what changed?” Hell, a lot had changed since back then, he'd put a gun to Bass' head, been too much of a pansy to pull the trigger, and then he'd run and went into hiding. Spent years in a bar drinking himself stupid up until the point that Charlie had waltzed into that bar and asked for him by his name. That had been what changed in his life and he knew, she was the missing factor that was the key to everything he'd ever done in the span of his life. If he was a better person now than he had been in the militia, it was simply because she was there and she'd taken some of that evil out of him and put it into herself instead. Rubbing his hands over his face, he sighed heavily, “What do you want me to tell you? That I somehow came to the conclusion that I was worse than a common criminal before I turned my back on the Republic and ran like a coward?” He heard her scoff and he looked up, moving his hands away from his face as he scowled a little, he'd killed people for lesser things than that when directed at him. 

“It's her, isn't it? That girl laying in there that you carried in your arms for countless miles just to get her to safety, you can see it in your eyes when you look at her. What if the militia had found you before you got here with her and you had that look about you? Use your head, son, you want her alive then stop wearing your heart on your sleeve, you're a grown man.” That made Miles stare at this woman with his mouth slightly open, he'd not said a word about anything between him and Charlie, and she'd known, at least to a point. Part of him wanted to kill her for offending him, but he realized that she had a point with what she'd said to him, if the militia saw that he cared for Charlie, they would use her against him. Satisfied that he seemed to understand, she got up and poured the coffee into cups, sliding one across the table to him, “Drink that and then go get yourself cleaned up, can't lay down with your sweetheart when you look and smell like that. You'll leave her to me, I'll see to it that she gets a good cleaning while you're away, poor thing looks a sight after being dragged halfway across the fields.” This woman could have been the commanding general of the militia with the way she sounded when she spoke to him, Miles hadn't felt like this since he'd been a boy. Still, she was a good woman from the look of her and she would take care of Charlie, that's all he really needed to know, so he just kept his mouth shut and nodded. 

A couple hours later, he'd had a warm bath, clean clothes on his back and his belly blessedly full for the first time in weeks if he was honest. They'd had food, but he was full, it was a feeling he wasn't ever going to forget again because it might not happen again for a while. Now though, he was laying beside Charlie while she slept, just studying her pale, tired face while they lay there in the quiet of the house. She'd been up long enough to drink some tea and help Kay get some clean clothes on her, but then she'd gone out like a light again. Kay had reassured Miles that she needed to rest first before she could eat anything, but that she'd get a hot bowl of soup in the morning, first thing. Sighing a little, he curled his arm around her and tucked her in against him before he settled down and closed his eyes, just listening to the soft sound of her breathing. The fact that she was still alive had him thrilled, that Kay thought it wasn't too serious was even better in his book, but she wasn't out of the woods yet. Even if it took another damned week of this, he'd keep her here until she was well enough to travel again, this was something he wasn't going to take chances with.

Miles had just gotten himself relaxed enough to close his eyes to rest when he heard the unmistakeable sound of horses riding hard this way. That had him more than awake and he was up out of the bed in a handful of seconds, casting a glance over at Charlie who just murmured at the sudden movement from him. Damn, he couldn't go out and fight anyone because if he left her she was as good as dead because she was down for the count this time. Yanking his boots on, he tied them so he didn't make an ass of himself later, and he'd just buckled on his sword belt when Kay came bustling into the room. Her eyes lit on him and he saw her aged face lacking some of it's color, “The militia...she won't be safe here with you, go out the back or they'll kill her because she's with you. They'll come closer to letting her live if you're not at her side, I'll take care of her and you can come back for her when it's safe, now go!” His heart clenched at the thought of leaving her, losing her, letting her die, all of those were bad things and he had to choose one. There was no way out this time and he didn't think he'd felt like this even when he'd held the gun to Bass' head and had been unable to pull the trigger. To save her, he would pull the trigger if his friend was in front of him now, but there wasn't that choice, he had to leave her this time. 

He couldn't speak so he just nodded and fled the room without looking back, it would break him if he had to look back and see her there. Guilt beat him down as he ran out the back of the house and carefully made his way around until he came out to join Nora and Aaron. They gave him a questioning glance but never said a word as Jeremy Baker, at one time a friend to Miles, stopped his troop of men a few feet from them, “Well, I never expected the rumors to be true, Miles. And it looks like you're down a team member since the last time we saw each other, that's a pity really, she was a beautiful woman.” That set fire raging in Miles' veins at the implication of those words, how dare this man look at Charlie that way, she was his. As soon as Jeremy dismounted and drew his sword, Miles ran at him and the fight started as Nora and even Aaron joined in the fray with the rest of the men. None of the villagers joined them and for that, Miles was happy, he didn't need anyone being hurt because of this, they were only after them. He fought as hard as he could because it meant that Charlie might be able to live even if he didn't, they wouldn't take her if he could kill Jeremy at least, no one else knew her. 

It was a losing battle though, Aaron had already been backed into a corner because he wasn't a fighter, and that left more on him and Nora than they could possibly take on. Jeremy knew too well how good Miles was and that was why he'd brought so many men with him, too many for a tired former general and one woman to take on. Twisting around, he ran another man through with his sword as he saw Nora get taken down and he cursed in his head as he kept fighting. He turned and he swore he felt his heart stop, he saw the blow coming and was ready for the inevitable pain he was about to feel. Just before the nameless soldier could impale him on the sword, a crossbow bolt hit him in the neck and he fell to the ground with a gurgling sound of pain. Whipping his head around in the direction that it had come from, he felt fear grip him at the sight of Charlie standing there, wrapped in a sheet, pale and shaking as she slumped against the doorway of Kay's house. Breaking out of the circle of men, he ran toward her, “Charlie get back! Get in the house now!” He was frantic, something he hadn't been in so long that it was a foreign feeling to him, but he only knew that he had to get her to run away, far away from the militia now that they knew she was alive. 

The distance between them was almost closed and he was so close to getting to her until he was brought down by two of Jeremy's men, one sitting on his back and the other holding a gun to his head, “No! Don't touch her, take me instead just leave her alone!” Walking by him with a smug look, Jeremy went up to Charlie who tried to swing at him but missed and ended up staggering right into his chest, “So beautiful, and full of fire too. General Monroe will be pleased with me when I bring her back to him and tell him how important she is to you, Miles.” His heart was threatening to break as he watched her struggle against Jeremy until her strength gave out and she seemed to just crumble in his arms. Rage poured through Miles when Jeremy lifted her up and started carrying her back toward the horses, “You son of a bitch, I'll kill you!” Chuckling at the anger in Miles' voice, he handed Charlie over to one of the men before he swung himself up onto his horse and then had her handed up to him, “You'll have to come to Philadelphia if you want her back, I'll let you go for now because I'm sure Monroe will be thrilled to watch this game play out. Tie them up and keep them here until sunrise, then you can set them free, we'll be long gone by then.” Cupping Charlie's chin in his hand, Jeremy leaned down and covered her mouth with his, delighting in the enraged almost roar that came from Miles.

Lifting his head, he just grinned and held the reigns in one hand, letting his other hand slide down the front of her body, “Don't worry so much, Miles, I'll keep her warm and happy for you. She might even come to like my bed after a while, seeing as how she's not in yours, why is that? Oh that's right, because she's your niece and that would make you a sick man to even think of it.” He struggled against the two men holding him, that rage just pouring through his body at the thought of another man touching her that way. Charlie was his and his alone, right or wrong she belonged to him and he wanted blood on his hands just from seeing Jeremy touch her, kiss her the way he had, “I swear I'll cut your chest open and crush your heart in my bare hands the next time I see you. And so help me if you've lain another hand on her, I will make you suffer like no other man I've ever killed.” It was hissed and it made Jeremy's face pale a little because he'd seen just how cruel and ruthless Miles could be, but rather than show weakness, he turned his horse away. Nudging it into movement, he motioned to his men, “Five of you here, the rest with me, move out!” The last thing Miles remembered before he was hit over the back of the head was having to watch Jeremy Baker ride away with Charlie in his arms, riding off to take her to the one man he never wanted to lay eyes on her.


	7. Charlie Meets Sebastian

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My beta has had internet issues and was unable to beta the last chapter and this one as well, so please forgive me of any spelling mistakes or other such mistakes. I do my best to catch them, but I'm nowhere near perfect, so I'm sure there are some mistakes there!

Jeremy hadn't slowed even a little after he'd left the village with Charlie, unconscious in his lap, because he knew if Miles caught up to them, he was a dead man. No one who knew the stories of Miles Matheson took any threat he made lightly, it was not a death that would be quick to pleasant. Given the fact that he'd seen the burning rage in those brown eyes when he'd touched the young woman, he knew he'd never again be safe. The only thing that made him keep going was the fact that he knew Sebastian would do far worse things to him that Miles would if he didn't bring the girl back with him. True, he'd been sent to get Miles himself, but he had seen the tormented way his former friend had looked at just seeing her trying to help. Something was going on there that no one seemed to know about but Charlie and Miles, and her presence in Philly was going to bring the former general there without a single doubt. She didn't look so good though, and it set up a sort of panic in Jeremy for his own life rather than her own, because if she died, Bass and Miles both were going to do unspeakable things to him. That was the reason for his haste in getting to the capitol of the Republic, keeping her alive was essential to keeping him intact and alive. 

Days had passed before he and his men rode into the capitol and he didn't waste a second in riding straight to headquarters and dismounting from his horse with Charlie in his arms. By some stroke of luck, she'd woken up a few times along the trip and he'd made her eat and drink as much as he could get into her before she'd lapsed back into unconsciousness. Now though, he was hurrying into the building, almost at a dead run as he went through the hallways and up the stairs until he stood outside Bass' office. The guard at the door knocked and waited until the general gave permission for him to enter, and Jeremy stood tall as the guard opened the door to let him inside. Quietly, he entered the room and stood a few feet away from Bass's desk, “Sir, I've returned from the scouting mission, we found Miles Matheson.” Lifting his head to look at Jeremy, the president settled his gaze on the woman in his arms and then leaned back in his chair, “You found Miles, but you fail to bring him here, and show up with a woman instead? Were my orders not understood, Captain Baker?” 

Swallowing thickly, Jeremy shook his head, “No Sir, your orders were well understood, but some information came to my attention and I brought the girl back with me instead.” Lacing his fingers together, Bass stayed quiet for a moment though it was clear on his face that he was not impressed nor amused, “I suggest, Captain, that you tell me what information that is before I give the order for your punishment at having failed me.” Fear surged through Jeremy and he would have dropped Charlie had it not been for the memory of the threat Miles had made to him. Carefully depositing her in the chair in front of Bass' desk, he took a breath, “She was with Miles when we found him. The information we received says that this is his niece, but he went crazy when we took her from him, Sir.” Now Bass was interested, more than a little really, he'd rarely ever seen Miles go off the deep end, not even when Ben and Rachel had been in danger. Putting the book on his desk, he leaned forward to get a better look at her, “I haven't seen her since she was a little girl, are you sure this is Charlotte Matheson, Captain Baker?” That had him scared, Miles hadn't called her Charlotte and if he'd just messed up he knew that Bass would probably shoot him, “I..I don't know, Sir. Miles called her Charlie.”

Rising up from his chair, Bass nodded and walked around the desk to crouch down by the chair, reaching out to brush a strand of hair away from her face, “They called her Charlie, so that means that Miles has part of his family back after all. What else can you tell me, Captain Baker, what did Miles look like when you took her from him?” Bringing his hands behind his back, Jeremy kept his gaze straight ahead rather than looking directly at Bass, “He swore if I touched her that he was going to crush my heart in his bare hands, Sir. I think you and I both know him well enough to know that he doesn't make idle threats.” Bass cupped Charlie's face and stroked his thumb over her cheek, getting her eyes to flutter open a little at the touch, “Have my personal doctor sent to my room, Captain. If Miles is coming to get her, we should at least be civilized enough to make sure she's in good health.” Letting his hand drop away from her face, Bass stood up and lifted her up in his arms, turning and walking across the room to the hidden door along the wall. Nudging it open with his foot, he carried her inside and put her down on his bed, sitting at her side once he'd put her down, “What is it about you that makes Miles lose his control, Charlie? What makes you so important to him that he would do anything to get you back?”

She was awake, but not fully from the glassy look in her eyes, she'd been weak for too many days to have come around well enough yet. Even so, she heard the man talking to her and could see him, it was just that she didn't quite understand who he was, “Miles...I want..Miles..” Reaching up, Bass smoothed her hair away from her face, a thousand different things running through his head about this girl, this young woman who had been brought to him. Frowning a little, he moved his hand away and poured some water into a glass beside his bed, lifting it in one hand and reaching back to her with the other. Tucking his hand behind her head, he lifted her up and took a drink from it to show her it wasn't anything dangerous to her before he put the rim of the glass against her lips, “Drink, it's only water.” Charlie let her lips part enough for him to tip some water into her mouth and she swallowed, he waited until she had before he tipped more into her mouth until she'd finished what had been in the glass. Sitting it aside, he held her up with one hand and moved the pillows behind her so that she was raised up a little more before he lowered her back down. “You're a beautiful woman, Charlie. Why would you side with Miles, knowing all he's done?”

Taking a soft breath, she looked at Bass with a sort of recognition in her eyes now that hadn't been there before, “You're him..Sebastian Monroe.” He nodded and she seemed to almost recoil from him as he knew she would, but he didn't stop her from moving away from him, “You didn't answer my question.” Looking away from him, she closed her eyes and tried to weakly pull the sheet tighter around herself but he batted her hand away. Standing back up, Bass pulled it off from around her even as she fought with him to keep it, “Stop fighting me, Charlotte, I'm not a monster.” The look he got from her was one he'd seen Miles give him and he narrowed his gaze a little as he pulled the sheet free and tossed it to the side. She was beautiful, more than most women he'd seen in years, but he didn't feel anything toward her, not even attraction. Her face, even her eyes reminded him so much of Miles that he couldn't feel anything more than betrayal that he'd suffered at the hands of the man he'd thought of as a brother. Lifting her feet up, he pulled the blankets of his bed up and over her before he sat back down, “Now, answer my question. What makes you so important to him, and him to you?”

Charlie didn't speak and Bass was close to losing his temper with her when the door opened and an older man came into the room, “You sent for me, General?” Standing up from the bed, Bass turned to him and stepped away from the bed where she was laying, “Examine her and find out what's wrong.” The man looked surprised for a moment before he nodded and hurried over to the bed, sitting his bag down before he smiled kindly at her, “I'm Doctor Cassidy, can you tell me your name, Miss?” Her eyes cut over to Bass and he raised an eyebrow at her before she looked back at the doctor and sighed a little, “Charlie..my name is Charlie.” Nodding to her, he reached up and felt along her head to make sure there were no injuries or anything unusual there, “Have you been injured or feeling unwell recently, Charlie?” She waited until he moved his hands away from her before she spoke again, “No injures, I've just been sick, I don't know for how long.” Sitting beside her, she stayed still while he felt along her throat and beneath her ears, not finding him to be a threat so she let him do his work. He stayed quiet for a minute or so before he reached down and moved all but the sheet away from her, “What kind of sick? Fever, headaches, what are the symptoms?” 

Lifting one of her hands, she rubbed her eyes tiredly, and even that felt like a task just to manage, “I can't hold anything down..everything comes back up. I think I ate something bad, but I'll be okay.” Cassidy moved his hands down and pressed lightly on the sides of her stomach, “Do you feel any pain or tenderness when I do this?” For a moment or two, Charlie just stayed still and waited before she shook her head a little, “No, neither.” He did the same in a few others places against her stomach and lower abdomen before he moved back and thought for a moment, “General Monroe, if you wouldn't mind stepping out for just a moment?” Bass hesitated and then nodded almost reluctantly before he stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him to give them some privacy. He didn't like being on the outskirts of something but he understood this, at least a little bit even if he didn't like it very much. But it was best not to get Charlie upset while she looked as weak as she did, the point of this was to find out what was wrong so she could be treated for it. It was bad enough that Miles was going to be livid by the time he reached Philly, there was no need to add insult to injury and have her be worse off than the last time he'd seen her. Though to be honest, Bass had meant what he'd said, he wasn't a monster and had no intention of being cruel to her, despite what people said about him. 

It took forever before the door opened again and Doctor Cassidy came out with his bag, though he left the door open so that Bass could see Charlie inside rested. Looking back to the doctor, Bass nodded and brought his hands to rest behind his back, “You've found out what's wrong with her then?” The doctor frowned at him and that made Bass' eyebrows raise a little, wondering about the reason for that, “With all respect General, she's pregnant.” That was surprising news, but not for the reason the man thought, and Bass was quick to shake his head, “No formalities needed, doctor, it isn't mine.” Not feeling the need to explain that, Bass turned and went into the bedroom a few feet before he looked back at the man, “I'll see to it that she's fed well, if anything happens I'll send for you.” When the man left, Bass walked over and sat down on the bed beside Charlie, a somewhat amused look on his face as he watched her, “Did he tell you why you've been so sick recently, Charlie?” She shifted away from him a little and clutched at the blankets a little more firmly than before, “No, he didn't say. Why do you care anyway?”

Sebastian leaned down and curled a lock of her hair around his finger, making her nervous because of his close proximity, “I never would have thought it of him, Miles was always the one who followed most of the rules, but I can see why he couldn't stop himself.” Frowning a little more, Charlie pushed at Bass' chest to get him to move away from her, but he held firm where he was, “I don't know what you're talking about, so just get away from me.” Taking her hands, he held them down so she wouldn't push at him anymore, an amused smirk crossing his lips, “Don't you? How long has Miles been taking you to his bed, Charlie? How many times has he fucked you and not pulled out before he came?” Lifting his other hand, he put a finger to his lips when he saw her eyes widen and the realization cross her face, knowing what this was all about now. To be honest though she looked positively terrified, and not just because of him either, “You should be proud, you're pregnant with the only child of Miles Matheson. Answer me this, Charlie, did you ever tell him no, or ask him to stop?”

Charlie looked up at him, suddenly feeling so ashamed of herself because now he knew what she'd been doing with Miles, with her uncle of all people. Even in today's world it was wrong for her to be with him because they were related, and now here she was, pregnant with his baby. It hadn't been planned either, she'd known it was a risk every single time they'd had sex together, but she honestly hadn't thought she would get pregnant. Covering her face with her hands, she shook her head and tried to calm herself, “It isn't what you think...why do you care anyway? Why would you care if he raped me or not, even if he didn't or he did, you don't have a reason to care.” Bass sat back a little and looked at her, or what of her he could see around her hands that were still covering her face, she had a point in what she said. He shouldn't care one way or another what had happened to her, or even if she'd ended up pregnant by force, but he wouldn't have ever thought that truthfully. Miles had a dark side, but he strongly doubted that it went so far as to force a woman to have sex with him, he'd never had trouble getting one in his bed before. This one wouldn't have been any different either, even being related, Bass knew it probably hadn't taken much for his old friend to end up in bed with her. 

Reaching out, he pried her hands away from her face and looked down at her even though she tried to turn her head away, “I'm not a fool, Charlie. I know he didn't force you into anything, and you're right, I don't have a reason to care what happens to you or why you're pregnant. That doesn't mean I'm going to kill you either, you'll be taken care of until Miles comes here to get you. After all, he has a right to know that his beautiful niece is carrying his child, you wouldn't want to deny him that knowledge would you?” There was a sort of pleasure he got out of seeing the way her face turned red with embarrassment and the shame of knowing what she'd done. But she never denied it either, never said she wished it hadn't happened, and that was all Sebastian needed to know about this situation. If she felt this way for Miles then it meant he had to feel much the same for her or she wouldn't have carried this kind of hope even if she was ashamed of herself. Rising up from the bed, he looked back at her, “You can say all you want to that he won't come here for you, but I know he will because you're in love with him. Just think, Charlie, because of you he's coming home to see his family again.”


	8. Escape & Pursuit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many apologies for not updating sooner than this. I know it's been a very long time since the last chapter and I do apologize to everyone who has been waiting for this next chapter for so long now. Life happened and made it very difficult for me to get back to my writing, but things have settled down for me now and I am working to get more written as soon as possible. Also, apologies for the shortness of this chapter. I have something planned out and it's going to take a bit to get things set up, so please just hang in here with me while I get things situated out for this story!

Having to watch Jeremy ride away with Charlie had been a sight more painful for Miles than watching himself put a gun to Bass' head years before. If he hadn't been such a fool back then, she wouldn't be in their hands now, but it stood to reason that he might never have met her if he had killed Bass. When he woke up again his head throbbed where he'd been hit earlier, and it did little to improve his mood once his mind caught back up with him. She was gone, being taken straight to Bass when she couldn't even fight back. That was a sickening thought, she hadn't gotten any better and she was just being dragged straight to the enemy. She'd die on the way there or once she got to Bass, there wasn't another option in Miles' mind and it made him sick to think about losing her when he couldn't even be there to tell her. Tell her what? Love was a strong word but he felt it every time he looked at her, he should have told her sooner and he knew it, now he might never get the chance to even when he got free and went after her. 

“Miles, are you okay?” Turning head head to the left he saw Nora looking at him and he nodded a bit, if there was one thing he could count on, it was that they were going to get free. It was all a question of when at this point, they couldn't take their time though, every minute that went by was a minute that might be closer to Charlie dying. True to what he knew of the woman across from him, she gave him that look, the one that said she was already working on the escape part. Aaron was still half out of it and Miles just had the sickening feeling that he was going to have to leave the man in this village while he and Nora went after Charlie. Getting to Philly was the most important thing on his mind and he wouldn't let anyone slow him down this time. The men who had been guarding them were already long gone, or were at least not in the shack with them. So when Nora's hands came free, Miles wasn't worried that they'd be caught and shot for it, but he was definitely planning on shooting someone very soon. 

Rubbing her wrists a little, Nora got up and walked over to Miles, crouching down behind him to untie his hands, “We need to find some weapons.” He nodded and shook the ropes off once she'd gotten them untied, getting to his feet as she went to untie Aaron. “We're leaving him here, Charlie doesn't have much time once they reach Philly. Bass will kill her if he finds out who she is, or use her against us and then kill her.” The edge in his voice made Nora stay quiet on her argument that they really should take Aaron with them to go and rescue Charlie. She couldn't understand the sudden change in the man she'd known for years, she'd never seen him so determined, so serious. But she knew better than to ask him about it, Miles' business was his own and if she questioned him it wouldn't end well. With Aaron free, she helped him up to his feet and then looked back at Miles, “I'll take him to the doctor and see if she can help get us some supplies.” Walking over to the door, Miles nodded and opened it a crack to look outside and see if they were still being guarded. 

As it turned out, Jeremy's men were still outside and Miles felt the adrenaline rush through him, he was going to tear them apart for being half the reason Charlie was gone from him now. Without saying a word to Nora, he rushed outside between the two men and ducked under a punch from one of them. The other he kicked in the stomach before whirling around and hitting the other one in the face hard enough to bust his nose and make him stumble backward. From behind, the other grabbed him but Miles twisted and tossed him over his shoulder onto the ground. Reaching out, he grabbed the pistol from the man with the busted nose and shot him in the chest at point blank range. Turning the gun to the one on the ground, he narrowed his eyes, “Please...please don't kill me, I have a family.” Clenching his jaw, Miles pulled the hammer back on the gun and met the man's eyes, “And you helped take my family from me.” Without another word, he pulled the trigger and then turned and walked away, right now he wasn't going to think about what he'd just done. 

Killing people wasn't something he enjoyed, but once Charlie had been taken away from him it had brought out a side of him he hadn't seen in years. He would kill anyone who stood in his way of getting her back, it didn't matter if they had a family or not to him. They'd taken away his family, the woman he loved, and he wasn't going to show mercy to any of them. Sticking the gun in the back of his pants, he looked over at Nora and nodded, “Get him to the doctor, I'm not waiting long.” She eyed him carefully, but did as he said and helped Aaron toward the house where Charlie had been only an hour or so ago. While she was doing that, Miles went over to the house next to the stables where a few horses were standing in their stalls. He didn't have anything to give in return for horses, but they needed them or they were never going to get to Charlie in time to save her from Bass. And for him, getting there too late was not even an option, he'd rather kill himself right now than to get there when she was already dead or beyond help.

Much to his surprise, and appreciation, the man who owned the stables handed two of the horses over to Miles to use to go and get Charlie. He'd told him he couldn't pay for them, or promise to bring them back, but the man had assured him that it didn't matter. So rather than arguing, Miles thanked him multiple times before going out and putting saddles on the two horses. When Nora came back out from Kay's house, she was carrying a small bag of supplies. Swinging himself up into the saddle on his horse, Miles turned it toward the gates of the village as Nora got on her own. And when she was ready, he urged the horse into a gallop with her close behind him as they rode out of the village and turned toward Philly. It was going to be a long ride, but he was more than determined to keep going as long as possible every day, maybe even half the night. All he could think about was what Bass would do to his precious Charlie once she was in his hands, and none of it was good to think about. In fact, those thoughts only served to make his mind partially frantic at what she would face without him by her side to keep her safe. 

He and Nora rode hard on into the evening and for an hour or two into the night before he finally stopped, reluctantly, and slid off of his horse. Leading it over to a small stream, he let the tired animal drink it's fill before he led it over to a tree to tie the reigns so it wouldn't wander off during the night. Once he was sure it was fine and was eating the tall grasses around the tree, he set to work on making a small fire for the night. Nora did much the same with her own horse before coming to sit down near him with a slight frown, “Are you sure you're okay, Miles?” Turning his head from his work for a few seconds, he looked at her and then looked back down at the fire he was trying to get going, “I'm fine.” She shook her head and scoffed, she knew him far better than that, “You're not okay, you just killed two men and walked away like it was nothing. I know you do what you have to do, but you don't kill people just because you can, Miles.” He clenched his jaw as the fire finally lit and he sat a foot or so away from it, trying to figure out how to respond to her. 

Nora sighed and shook her head as she lifted the bag from Kay and sat it between them, “Charlie is a strong girl, if anyone can make it, she can. You just have to believe in her.” He thought about that for a minute or so, and he could admit that it was true most of the time, but she'd been so weak when they'd taken her. No matter how strong she was, she couldn't fight if she was barely able to stay on her feet more than a few seconds. But he also remembered some of the things he'd seen Bass do over the years, and he knew there was no way she could fight back against him. Even if she managed to fight against Bass, he had plenty of soldiers to help him subdue her, and that was what worried him. She was outnumbered a thousand to one in Bass' hands, and it was breaking his heart into a million pieces because this was all his fault. A sudden touch on his arm made him jerk away from Nora before he thought about what he was doing, and the look she gave him was shocked and a little irritated, “What the hell is really going on here, Miles?”

That was a question he was not going to answer right now, no one would ever understand the relationship he had with Charlie. No one would be able to see that he really did love her, that he'd tried so hard not to act on the completely forbidden thoughts he'd had about her. So instead of saying anything about it, he moved away from her a little more and lay down on the grass behind him, “Go to sleep, we're leaving before dawn.” Nora just stared at him as he rested one arm behind his head and the other over his waist and closed his eyes. There was definitely something going on that he wasn't saying, and for the life of her she couldn't figure out what it was. Maybe it was just the fact that he thought of Charlie as his responsibility and now she was gone to the worst place she could be taken. Whatever the reason though, Miles was definitely not himself right now and it made her a little wary of what he would actually do to get her back. 

Miles, on the other hand, was more resting than actually trying to go to sleep because his mind was still racing too fast to calm down. All he wanted was to have Charlie back in his arms where she belonged, where he knew she would be safe from anything. It seemed like the second she was out of his arms, something bad happened to her because he wasn't there to stop it. Oh she was far from being a damsel in distress, she could fight with the best of them and he'd be glad to have her in a fight any time. But the problem seemed to be that with the Militia, she saw red and didn't think things through before she started fighting. Not that he could blame her after the way Ben had died right in front of her, she had every right to be upset when she saw the Militia. That was the least of his worries though, they'd deal with her healing after he got her back with him again. And after they made sure that Bass would never again hurt anyone else, that his empire fell and couldn't rise up again. 

Somehow they would find a way to make that happen, and he was sure within himself that Charlie would have a big part to play in that. He swallowed a little and drew in a steady breath to try and help relax his body a little more, and in his mind he did his best to push away all the negative thoughts. Instead of thinking of what could happen to her, he pulled his memories of her to the very front of his mind. All the time they'd spent together, the first time they met back in Chicago, the first time he'd leaned in and kissed her. He even thought of the arguments they'd had with each other and all the times when she'd been right and he'd refused to give in. When he thought of her smile, his mind calmed a little, he'd always felt more calm after she smiled at him. Breathing out, he remembered the feel of her sleeping in his arms, the earthy scent of her hair as he held her against him. That had only happened a few times, more recently than in the past, but it helped to calm him just to think about her like that. And his last thought as he drifted off to sleep was his promise to get to her in time and save her, then he'd finally get to tell her he loved her.


	9. Calm Before The Storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hooray for more Bass, Charlie and Jeremy! I wasn't planning on actually having mention of Miles in this chapter, but my muse caught wind of an idea and I ran with it. I really hope everyone will enjoy what I have planned for the next chapter, and thank you all for reading my work! This chapter is, sadly, unbeta'd so please forgive any mistakes you might come across.

Even after the visit from the doctor, Charlie's sickness had continued, much to her dismay over that fact. And Bass had smugly informed her that this was what they called 'morning sickness' and that most women did go through it in some form. She'd argued that it didn't make sense if she was throwing up all hours of the day, but he'd just looked at her as though he expected her know what he meant. It was then that she realized she'd been having a conversation with him and had gone quiet after that. As it was now, she couldn't recall how long she'd been there but she knew it was much too long for her to spend away from Miles. Just thinking about him made her heart ache because she wasn't near him, she couldn't reach out and find him there to draw strength from. Not that she truly needed physical strength since Bass hadn't tried to hurt her, yet, and was mostly seeing to it that she stayed in bed. The only consolation she had was the fact that with her in his bed, she'd driven him out of his own room. That really was laughable, that the General himself would be driven from his own bed because of a woman. 

In all honesty though, she'd expected him to stay with her, to demand that he be allowed to sleep in his own bed whether he was present or not. That he didn't was a big relief for her, because she likely would have tried to kill him for attempting something like that. For her, Miles was the only man she ever wanted to share a bed with, right or wrong she loved him completely. She felt Bass watching her again and glanced over to where he was sitting, narrowing her eyes a little, “What?” Lazily shrugging his shoulders, he rose up to his feet and turned toward the window, “I'm still trying to understand this whole situation, Charlotte. Of all the people I've known, Miles was always the most disciplined one of the bunch, and yet here we are. You, his own niece, pregnant with his child, and I'm left wondering why that is.” To her it sounded somehow wrong for this man to even try and understand what it was she and Miles had together, but then again, the two had history together. 

“Like you could understand it anyway. All you understand is blood and violence, you thrive on it.” Charlie spat back at him, causing Bass to turn and look at her, a little surprised at the sheer amount of venom in her words. Leaning his hip against the window frame, he crossed his arms over his chest, “What makes you believe that?” She gave him that 'are you stupid?' look before shifting a little, “Conscription ships, work camps, senseless killing...you're the cause of every bit of suffering here and you know it. All the men, women and children who have died has been because of you.” If her words bothered him on any level, it didn't show on his face at all, he actually laughed at her and shook his head. Though that was the wrong course of action, he saw, as Charlie came out of the bed faster than he'd seen her move since she'd been brought there, “You think it's funny? My father is dead because of you!” Ah, now it all made sense as to why she hated him, at least partially, he'd done a lot more than inadvertently being the cause of her father's death. 

She didn't need to know that though, nor did she need to know that he had been holding Rachel captive all this time. That reminded him too, he still had her brother in custody, that had to be the reason she'd been so near to Philly in the first place. Especially since she'd been there with Miles, it meant they'd been coming to save the youngest Matheson child. Danny was a captive, but he couldn't quite call Rachel that, she was more than willing because of what she got out of it. Though the initial reasoning had faded years ago when he'd figured out for himself just how cold hearted Rachel really was. He wouldn't tell all of that to Charlie though, he really wasn't the monster that people portrayed him to be. Yes he had caused so much suffering, but it was suffering that was for a greater cause than this slip of a girl would ever understand. “Get back into bed, Charlotte. You can take your anger out on me another day.” He said flatly as he motioned toward the bed to coax her back there, whether she liked it or not, it was the best place for her right now. 

It was also more than amusing that Miles hadn't realized what was wrong with her, Bass knew his former friend wasn't that thick. Surely he had some idea that what they'd been doing would eventually cause this, unless Charlie had been unable to have children. But the only way to really tell that was to try and see what happened, he doubted he'd been that careless. After all, why try to get her pregnant while they were trekking across the country to get here to him in the first place? Of course having his niece where she was now was the last place Miles would ever want her to be. For a number of reasons, but the main one being because Miles had seen him do things that were unspeakable. And if he knew the other man at all, then he knew he'd be thinking he was doing those things to Charlie from the second he found out who she was. Another time and another place, he might really have enjoyed causing her pain and breaking her apart from the inside out. Not now though, he had bigger plans to work on and he'd already saw what torture and torment did in the end, it ended badly.

Charlie thought for a second or two to tell him to go to hell, but to be fair, he was being nice to her right now. So instead of making the situation worse, she reluctantly sat back down on the bed, though it was mostly because of her condition. Knowing now that she was pregnant had sparked something inside Charlie, something she hadn't known was there. It was the instinct to protect that life inside her, and if that meant giving in a little, then she would do it for that reason. Any other time, she would have went after Bass without blinking and tried to kill him, that was her goal after all. Now though, it was a goal she put on the back burner, staying alive and keeping her child safe was the first thing in the front of her mind. Bass seemed pleased once she was sitting back down on the bed, but that look on her face was so much like Miles' own that it tore at his heart. 

They had been brothers at one point in their lives, and there was a part of him that had died the day Miles had put the gun to his head. Even though the trigger hadn't been pulled it had still killed something inside Bass that would never be the same again. Now though, he had the most powerful leverage over Miles that he could ever get, his lover and his unborn child. If that didn't help to sway the man to come back to him and the Republic, he didn't know what ever would. Of course he was careful not to show any sign of those plans to Charlie because he knew that she wouldn't have the same reservations about killing him that Miles had had. Then again he didn't have full confidence that his former friend wouldn't kill him on sight just for having Charlie held against her will. Had it not been for the fact that he slept on the ratty old sofa outside the room, he was sure she would have already tried to escape the capitol. He wasn't an idiot in these matters, he'd seen the way she had taken in every detail of the bedroom, and those wheels in her head had been turning. 

“Why don't we come to a truce, Charlotte? I'm not going to release you, you and I both know that, but I also don't actively want to kill you.” He said as he stretched his leg out and pulled a chair over with the toe of his boot to sit down in a second later. The look on her face was venomous at best, and it was clear that she didn't want any part of making peace with him. Still, she hadn't outright said no and he knew that her calculating Matheson mind was working on some way for this to benefit her. Oh and it could if she would just agree to behave herself and do as she was asked when she was asked. That would never happen though, so he didn't feel the need to even try and argue the point with her. She leaned back against the pillows at the head of the bed and crossed her arms, “That depends on the terms you want to set.” And there it was, the willingness to listen to what he had to say even if she wanted to take his pistol and unload it into his head. 

Smirking over at her, he held out his hands, palm up, “I continue to provide care for you through the kindness of my own heart, so long as you don't try to escape or kill me.” Those were simple terms to agree on, and he was being overly generous in his offer to continue taking care of her. It wasn't an offer he would make to anyone else, but she was Miles' family and she was carrying his only child. That alone was the reason why he could stomach what he'd just offered, if only for his own gain in the end. If she could bring Miles back to him, to his side, then all of this would be more than well worth the trouble of getting her to agree. Not to mention putting up with her attitude that was maddening even when she seemed to be in a good mood. It made him wonder how in the world Miles had even put up with her in the first place if she was always like this. Or maybe she was only like this with people she disliked, him to be more specific.

“You don't have a heart, Monroe. And how do I know you won't try to kill me, throw me in prison or...” She trailed off and he noticed the color drain out of her face and it didn't take a genius to figure out what had just crossed her mind. A few years ago, he would have most definitely demanded that she come to his bed when he wanted release. Here and now though, she had nothing to fear of him trying to take her to bed with him, he had no interest in her. Waving his hand dismissively, he shook his head, “Put that thought out of your head, I already told you that I'm not a monster. If I wanted a woman in bed with me, don't you think there are plenty here who would throw themselves at my feet just to spend a night with me, Charlotte?” He was amused at the look of pure disgust on her face, but to her credit, she didn't respond to that comment either. Leaning back in his chair, he shrugged his shoulders a little, “As for trying to kill you, I won't. You're more valuable to me alive than you would be dead, the same goes for throwing you in prison. I wouldn't throw Miles into a prison cell either, that would only lead to your escape and attempt to kill me while I slept.”

Charlie scoffed but didn't say anything else and he could tell that she was weighing things over in her mind very carefully. He stayed quiet and let the information sink in before she spoke up, “I stay alive, out of prison, and get what I need as long as I don't try and kill you or run away?” Bass nodded in return to her question, “Of course, you will have everything you need while you're here as long as you follow those two rules. That will also, of course, mean that you don't go anywhere unless I say that you can go. Right now, you are only allowed access to this room, the bathroom and my office.” It was clear to see that she hated the restrictions, but he knew she was as smart as her uncle was, she would see the benefits far outweighed the negatives in her case. She pointed a finger at him and he raised his eyebrows a little, “If you break your word on anything, I'm not going to keep mind either, I'll kill you.” What she didn't say was that when Miles did get there, she was taking the first chance she had to get free and kill him anyway. 

They both knew it would come down to a standoff with weapons drawn and whoever had the most nerve would pull the trigger. For now though, he just nodded his agreement to her words, he'd known she would say something like that anyway. Anything else they would have said was interrupted by a knock on the door of the room that had Bass rising up instantly. Turning around, he walked out of the room and closed the door behind him so that she couldn't overhear too much. It would have been stupid to let her listen to his conversations, he was the President after all, and commanding General. Jeremy saluted him, but the man looked pale as he gazed at Bass and that could only mean one thing right now. “I am assuming our guest has arrived?” Bass asked as he folded his hands behind his back and Jeremy nodded quickly, opening his mouth to speak before Bass shook his head. He gestured to the room and the other man caught on, they didn't speak about this so close to Charlie's hearing range. “Go and handle the welcoming, I expect them to be present in my office within the hour.” He said as Jeremy saluted again and left the room in a hurry to go and take care of getting Miles in custody. It was sooner than Bass had thought, which meant that as soon as Miles had been able to start riding out, he'd barely stopped in his pursuit. That only meant that he did love Charlie as much as she appeared to love him, but that could be used well in what he had planned for his friend.


	10. Deals With The Devil

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! So, this is the direction my muse has led me with this work. I really did try, in my head, to make Bass be a bad guy but I can't do it! It's obvious that there are some trust issues, but I've got the next few chapters planned out so that things get explained and taken care of that I haven't quite gotten to yet. For that, I do apologize as some of the chapters seem a little fragmented in some aspects. So please just keep hanging in here with me as I get all of my thoughts straightened out and get these chapters written. And before anyone asks, yes Danny and Rachel will be appearing soon, as will a few other characters we've not seen thus far, or haven't seen in a while. Thanks in advance for reading!

The ride to Philly had been long and hard, Miles had barely let them stop long enough for a few hours of sleep before he was moving again. Getting to Charlie before it was too late meant everything to him, without her he would die, it was as simple as that. And thinking of all the things that Bass might be doing to her only served to make him want to get there sooner. Jeremy had too much of a lead on them to get there fast enough, but he was doing his absolute best to get to her. Not much of a religious man, at least until recently, he found himself praying that she would just be kept safe until he got there. He knew that what they'd done was wrong, that their love was completely forbidden, but he couldn't stop loving her any more than he could stop breathing. Miles would also never ask for forgiveness for it, that would mean he thought of it as a mistake, and it was nowhere near that at all. Right or wrong, he would love Charlie until the day he died, which considering where he was riding to, could very well be the next twenty four hours. That didn't matter though, as long as he could save her before he died then he could die a happy man knowing he'd at least given the woman he loved a chance at life.

 

He stopped outside the city in the woods, they had to do some spying to see where it was safe to enter from that was as close to Independence Hall as they could get. Without a doubt, he knew that Bass would be keeping Charlie there because it was headquarters, the home of the president himself. If she was going to be anywhere, it would be there where there would be a whole division of troops at all times to protect him. Miles loosely draped the reigns over a branch and motioned to Nora to go in one direction to scout the area while he went the other way. The horse would eventually get loose, but it didn't matter, coming back out this way would only get them all killed in the end. They'd have to escape a different was, and that meant they didn't need the horses anymore. As he expected though, there were militia soldiers all over the place, guarding every entrance he could see from his position. If they were going to get in, they were going to have to kill some of them quickly and quietly so they didn't draw attention to themselves. Crouching down in the shadows, he glanced to Nora when she came back to his side and shook her head, “Every entrance is guarded.”

 

Damn Bass for being so thorough, but then again you couldn't stay president if you were lax in the security of your own capitol. Lifting his hand, he pointed to one of the entrances that was only guarded by three men rather than the four or five at the others, “We go in there. No mistakes, kill them quietly before they let the entire city know we're here.” She nodded back to him and went back to her horse to get the rest of their weapons, because they were going to need them this time. Going into the very heart of the Monroe Republic was suicide, but talking Miles out of this was not even remotely possible. He would save Charlie or die trying, she'd seen that look in his eyes only once before and knew not to even try and talk him out of it. Coming back over to him, she handed him one of the pistols and a handful of bullets, “I'm ready when you are, Miles.” Taking the pistol and bullets from her, he put the bullets into his pocket and checked to make sure the gun was fully loaded. Satisfied that it was, he stuck it in the back of his pants and pulled his shirt down over it before nodding and rising to his feet. Without words, they made eye contact and then went into movement toward the entrance he had suggested they take.

 

What he didn't know, couldn't possibly have known, was that they had already been spotted and Bass had been informed of that. Jeremy had already given the order to take Miles alive at any cost, whoever else was with him didn't matter as long as they got him. It was only when Miles and Nora reached the gate and he grabbed the first man, twisting hard on his neck to snap the bones that he realized this was a setup. Of course he would take the path of least resistance when coming into the capitol, that was what Jeremy had banked on. He found himself facing down a handful of swords and a couple of guns that promised he wouldn't make it three feet before he was dead. Standing in the center was Jeremy, smirking across the distance at him, “Miles, it's good to see you've come to join us, the president is waiting for you.” Just seeing the man in front of him, the one who had put his hands on Charlie, made Miles see red, “What did I tell you I would do to you when I saw you again, Baker?” To his credit, the man had the common sense to go pale, but he still stood his ground and motioned to one of the other men, “Arrest General Matheson and the woman, take her to the cells, he comes with us.”

 

Miles wanted to fight, more than anything in the world, but he also knew it was a losing battle if he even started to attempt it. Clenching his jaw, he held his hands up as the man came toward him and removed the weapons he had on him before bringing his hands behind his back and cuffing them. One of the others did the same with Nora before they took her off toward the prison cells beneath Independence Hall. “You should be thankful that the president wanted you alive, Miles. I'm sure he'll be happy to see the wayward son come home again.” Jeremy said as the man took Miles' arm and brought him forward. The look he gave to Jeremy was one of promise rather than threat, “When I get free, you're a dead man, Baker.” It scared him honestly, but he just motioned for them to take him off toward the front entrance of Independence Hall as he followed behind them. The only thing keeping Miles from trying to fight was the simple fact that he needed to get to Charlie, needed to see that she was really okay. Saving her would come after all of that, and they'd figure out a plan of attack together.

 

Bass was sitting at his desk when Jeremy knocked on the door and he glanced up from his paperwork, “Enter.” The door opened and Jeremy walked inside, saluted and then stood off to the side as the man brought Miles into the room with them. Rising up from his chair, Bass motioned to the man to wait outside and close the door behind him, “Good work, Captain. I trust you didn't have much trouble?” Jeremy shook his head and glanced over at Miles, “No Sir, he came with us peacefully.” Being in the same room as Bass made Miles' stomach roll with the urge to kill him right where he stood. It bothered him that Charlie wasn't here that he could see, even worse were those thoughts of what the man had put her through since she'd arrived days ago. Seeing the look on Miles' face, Bass smirked a little, “I knew you'd come here, Miles. There were scouts posted all along the road to report back to me at the first sign of you. But that's not the most interesting thing, you see, Captain Baker informed me of just who he had brought back with him when he arrived. I have to say, I'm shocked.”

 

That made Miles lunge forward, but Jeremy caught his arm with one hand and put the barrel of his pistol to his head with the other, “Don't even think about it, Miles.” Moving out from behind his desk, Bass met Miles' eyes carefully, “You should really be thanking me for what I've done. Without my help, she would already be dead and you know it.” It was only hearing that she was still alive that helped him to calm down enough not to want to rip Bass' head off his shoulders for him. He needed to remember that he had to stay calm and get to Charlie, she was the only reason that he was even here now. “Thanking you, Bass? What did you do to her?” Raising his eyebrows a little at that, Bass held out his hands and shook his head, “I haven't done anything to her aside from seeing that she received medical attention, and was well fed and rested.” Somehow, at least in his mind, Miles couldn't bring himself to even begin to believe what was coming out of Bass' mouth. The man didn't do anything without a reason, and he'd had no reason at all to show that kind of kindness to Charlie.

 

“If you want her to continue being unharmed, I suggest that you toe the line and cooperate.” Bass said as he went toward the door of his bedroom, which only served to make Miles' blood boil with rage. Why was he going to that room unless Charlie was in there, and if she was, why was she there if he hadn't done anything to her. Seeing the look on his face when he turned, he drew his pistol and pulled the hammer back, “I'm going to have Captain Baker remove your cuffs, but if you make one wrong move, I'll shoot her for it, Miles.” That threat hit home and he saw the fight almost completely drain out of Miles as he knew it would, Charlie was his ultimate weakness. Nodding to Jeremy, the man moved and unlocked the handcuffs and slipped them off before he stepped back from him quickly. Taking hold of the door handle with his free hand, Bass looked to Jeremy, “Go outside and wait, Captain, I can handle it from here.” He looked shocked at the order, but was quick to obey it, he'd much rather be away from Miles when the man had both hands free. Bass waited until the door closed behind Jeremy before he spoke up again, “When I open this door, you will be silent, Miles. And once you see Charlotte for yourself, I'll tell you an interesting little story.”

 

Swallowing back the threat that was on the tip of his tongue, Miles nodded stiffly as Bass turned the handle and pushed the door open. Inside the room, Charlie was laying on the bed sleeping and Miles could have sworn he was near to tears just to see her alive. Even more so because he didn't see any sign of injury on her, no marks and bruises, she was just as Bass had said she would be. Though it did make him wonder why that was, why Bass had spared her when he knew just who she was. Leaving the door open, Bass leaned against the door frame but still kept his pistol trained on Miles, “She was near death when Jeremy arrived here with her and I was good enough to call for my personal doctor to treat her.” Taking a shaky breath, Miles scrubbed a hand through his hair as he tore his eyes away from her to look at Bass again, “What was making her sick?” Amusement danced in Bass' eyes as he looked at his friend for a moment and then into the room at Charlie sleeping on the bed, “That is very interesting actually. I had a little chat with Charlotte after my doctor examined her and told me the cause of her sickness as of late. Honestly, I'm surprised by everything I found out, but don't worry, she didn't need to say anything for me to figure it out.”

 

Frowning a little, Miles took a step forward, but stopped when Bass raised the gun toward her and looked back at him in warning, “Cut the bullshit, Bass. What's wrong with her?” Whatever it was couldn't be good from the look on Bass' face though and it made Miles fearful of what the answer would actually be. “Little Charlotte is pregnant, Miles. The most interesting part of that is that I know you're the father, I know what you've been doing with her. But you should be proud, Miles, after all this is your first child.” If a feather had fallen and touched his forehead, Miles would have fell over on the floor from how completely shocked he was. Charlie was pregnant, with his baby, he was going to be a father. The rest of that hadn't even settled into his mind because all he could think about was the fact that inside her, she carried life. “Now you see why I couldn't possibly have brought myself to harm her. The mother of your child should be well taken care of, Miles.” Forcing himself to start breathing again, his fists clenched at his side, “Go ahead and say it, Bass. You've had days to think about this and I know there's some kind of twisted plan in your mind, what do you want from me?”

 

Lowering the gun a little, Bass just smiled at him, “I want you to join us again, Miles, be the general you were before that day. Charlotte will be well cared for and will have access to the doctors she needs to keep her and your child healthy. All you have to do is put the uniform on again and come back to my side, Miles.” Of course it would be that, the one thing he didn't ever want to do, but how could he refuse when he was sure he knew what would happen if he did? “You'll be reinstated and I'll see to it that you're provided with a home for the three of you. No harm will come to you, Charlotte or your child, so long as you don't defy me. If you do, I'll make you watch me kill them myself, as much as it would pain me to do it.” As if to hit that threat home, Bass pointed the gun back at Charlie and Miles almost hit his knees to beg him to stop that. The only thing that kept him from it was the fact that he would not ever beg this man for anything, he'd die before he let himself sink that far. But to join the Militia again, to become a general and do those things he despised...he didn't know if he could really do that and live with himself. More than that, how would Charlie ever be able to live with the fact that he was a part of the thing she hated the most?

 

“I won't let her out of my sight again, Bass. No missions away, no killing of innocent people, and I want your word that you won't harm Danny either.” Miles growled at him, which in turn made Bass grin rather than going into a rage as he'd expected him to do in the first place. Lowering the gun a little, he thought about it and then spoke, “You're good on the battlefield, Miles, but I'd rather have you somewhere close by to keep an eye on you. And you really don't leave me any choice in that matter because you refuse to leave Charlotte's side. If we agree on the terms, you'll be under house arrest until I say otherwise, both of you, letting you or Charlotte run loose in my city would be suicide.” It was almost sick how calculating Bass really was, but he knew him well enough to know what he'd do if left unsupervised. What bothered him the most is what he would be submitting Charlie to if he accepted this insane agreement Bass was offering. As things stood now, there was only one way to ensure that she would be safe, and that was to do as Bass wanted him to until the tide turned in their favor. Sighing heavily, he looked back at Charlie on the bed in the other room, “Swear that you won't do anything to hurt any of us, Bass, I want your word. If I follow the rules and keep Charlie in line, you leave us in peace. I'll do whatever job you tell me to, aside from riding out of here without her and my child, or killing people in your name again.”

 

Bass lowered the gun completely but didn't put it away as he nodded, “You'll be training the new recruits and helping to plan my strategies. Charlotte and your child will be kept safe, they will have my personal guarantee of protection, as will you and Danny, so long as you keep your word. Think of it this way, Miles, you get to be with the woman you love and no one will ever know who she really is to you.” In some kind of sick way, that was exactly what Miles wanted, without rejoining the Militia of course, but that couldn't be helped. He wanted to stay with Charlie, now more than ever because of the child she was carrying, and without this he knew he couldn't. If Aaron didn't kill him on sight for it, then Danny might once he found out what he and Charlie had been doing together. On some level he knew he should have talked to Charlie first, should have let her have a say in it, but he was doing this to protect her and their child. Keeping his gaze on her sleeping form, he finally nodded even as he swallowed down the urge to throw up because of it. Walking over to him, Bass embraced him for a moment and then stepped back, “It's good to have you back, Miles, and with a little time you'll see that I'm a changed man. You may even like it here.” All Miles could think was, _not a chance, not a single chance in hell._


	11. Everyone Has A Price

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick note here! This chapter is, yet again, unbeta'd so I'm hoping that you'll all forgive any spelling and/or grammatical errors you might happen across. In the next few chapters, I've got a couple of twists and turns planned out, so I'm hoping that once I get to those points that you'll all like where I'm taking things. Enough about that though, you'll see what's coming in the next chapters. Thank you all for reading!

The initial talking didn't wake Charlie up, with her body needing rest the way it did now, she was less alert than normal. If someone came into the room too close to her, she was almost instantly awake, but the sound of people talking didn't wake her anymore. Since she'd been brought to Philly, she'd learned to just tune out Bass and all of his little lackeys that came in and out of his office. It was somehow easier to forget where she truly was if she did that, it wasn't real to her if she didn't draw attention to it. So while Miles and Bass talked with each other she continued to sleep, regaining what strength she could while she could. Only when Miles finally ventured into the room, under Bass' watchful eye of course, did she realize that someone was in the room with her. Her eyes slowly fluttered open when Miles came around her side of the bed, that was too close for someone to be and her subconscious mind knew that all too well. Seeing him there with her was a shock and she thought at first that she was seeing things, he was there alive right in front of her.

 

Once she was sure that he was real, she sat up quickly and Miles closed the distance to wrap his arms around her as she did the same. He sat on the bed next to her and stroked her hair as she clung to him tightly, closing his eyes with a soft sigh, “It's okay now, kid, I'm here.” Charlie felt like she might just cry, but she bit back her tears and leaned back enough to look up at him, and that's when she caught sight of Bass in the doorway. She tensed and glanced back up at Miles questioningly, wanting answers as to why her captor was still alive and well. Miles let go of her and settled for taking her hands and drawing her full attention, “I need you to hear me out on this, Charlie. Will you do that?” Her eyes flicked back to Bass, who just smirked lazily as he watched them, not willing to let those two be alone right now, just in case. Frowning a little, she looked back at Miles and nodded her agreement that for now, she would listen to what he had to say. If anyone deserved her attention and willingness to listen, it was Miles without a doubt, he'd come all this way for her after all.

 

“You're not going to like what I have to say, but I need you to understand it.” He started as he hung his head a little and breathed a deep sigh, he hated this more than anything, having to tell her what he'd done. Squeezing her hands softly, he soldiered on, “We're staying here in the capitol and I'm rejoining the Militia.” Her mouth opened to speak, but he looked up and shook his head at her and she stayed quiet, grudgingly so, “Charlie, I did it for us, for Danny and for...” Miles trailed off and his gaze softened as it drifted to the smooth plain of her stomach in a way that made Charlie's cheeks turn bright red. So he'd been told that she was pregnant, she didn't much like that he'd probably heard from Bass rather than from her. But at least it looked like he wasn't upset with her, not that she'd thought he really would be once he found out anyway. “Bass will keep all of us safe as long as I stay here in the Militia and you don't try and run away or kill him. I know it's a lot to ask of you, to stay here, but it's the only way I can keep Danny and our family safe, Charlie.”

 

On some level, she was touched that he thought enough of Danny to make sure he was kept safe too, even if she'd been forbidden to see him yet. And she also knew that Miles had done the only thing that he could do so that everyone stayed alive, but that didn't mean she liked it. “He's going to make you go right back to doing those things you hated, Miles. We can't trust him!” At that, Bass snorted and came into the room to sit down in the chair near the door, “The same can be said for you, Charlotte. You'd kill me the first time I turned my back on you if I'd allow it.” Her eyes turned to him and Miles saw the pure venom in her gaze, he couldn't blame her for that though, not after what the Militia had taken from her. “You're damn right I'd kill you, but I don't need you to turn your back. You can watch me smile when I pull the trigger.” Bass started laughing as he leaned back in the chair and pointed at her with an amused sparkle in his eyes, “No wonder you fell for her, Miles. Look at her, she's as eager to kill as you were at one time in your life.” Before it could get out of hand, Miles shot Bass a look that clearly said for him to shut up before he turned back to Charlie and lifted his hand up to turn her head back toward him.

 

He waited a minute or so until she'd settled down a bit before he spoke up again, “I should have talked to you first, and you can hate me for not doing that if you want to. But I love you, Charlie, in ways that we both know I shouldn't even dare to. This is the only way I can keep you safe, and I'm damn well going to do it.” There was a battle of wills going on in both of their eyes, Charlie trying to make him change his mind and Miles trying to make her see reason. In the end, she looked away first and he knew he'd won for the moment, even though she was not going to be happy with him. That didn't matter though, he could handle sleeping on the floor for a while as long as it meant that she was safe in the end. “You two should really get married, you already act like a married couple the way you fight with each other.” Bass commented, which earned him a couple of glares from the bed where they were seated, though he just held up his hands. He grinned at them and put his hands down after a few moments, “I could arrange that you know, no one here in the city knows who she is, Miles. That could be your reinstatement gift from me.”

 

Charlie opened her mouth to say something, but Miles beat her to it, “I said I would stay here and keep her from killing you or running away, that doesn't mean you get to involve yourself in my personal life, Bass. When I want to marry her, I'll do it on my own terms, not yours.” That got her attention though, he'd said 'when' rather than saying 'if' he wanted to marry her, which meant that he did at some point. She looked back up at him and Miles realized she was staring, which made him turn to look at her again, “What?” In the next instant, Miles had an armful of Charlie as she all but threw herself forward and pressed her lips to his as her arms wound around his shoulders. His first thought was to push her back because they were in front of Bass, but he didn't because the man already knew what they were. And really, it felt too good to have her in his arms again, alive, that he couldn't bring himself to let go of her now. He kissed her back, hugging her firmly against him until she leaned back from their kiss, breathless and as beautiful as always, “Thought you'd be pissed off at me again.”

 

Her eyes flicked over to Bass for a second and then back up at Miles, “I am pissed off at you, but I still love you, Miles.” Ouch, right, that meant that they'd be 'talking about this' later on when they were able to be alone, he knew that tone of voice too well. Every woman had certain tones to her voice, this one meant that he was in the shit and was going to have to endure her anger later. At least he still had some hope of her not killing him or throwing him to the side, even though she really should have done that. After what he'd done to her, what he'd taken from her, she would be well within her right to put a bullet in him for it. Considering the fact that she still loved him and wasn't trying to kill him was a good thing, or at least he thought it was anyway. Rising up from his chair, Bass walked to the door and turned to look at them, “I'll have one of the men gather you some clothes and supplies for your new home, and I'll expect to see you here in my office in the morning, Miles. In uniform.” He left the room, but only to go to the door of his office to get one of the men outside to go and do what he'd said that he would.

 

The look of surprise, again, on Charlie's face when he looked back at her made Miles shake his head a little, “I didn't ask him for it, but he has a point. You're pregnant, Charlie, you need somewhere safe to stay so that nothing happens to you or the baby.” Reaching up, he softly stroked the side of her face and brushed a few strands of hair back behind her ear. She nodded a little and glanced down at their hands, she really didn't like the thought of having to stay there, but she did understand. If they tried to run away or kill Bass, they'd both be killed for it and she couldn't stand the thought of putting their child in danger. But that brought up another question in her mind, “Miles, you're not upset about this, are you?” He looked at her for a long minute, until she lifted her head to look at him when he'd been quiet for too long, “Am I upset that you're pregnant? Hell yes I'm upset, but not with you, I should have known better. You're young and have your whole life ahead of you, I was selfish and never thought about how you would feel if this happened, Charlie.” Her reaction wasn't what he expected when he said that, she actually laughed a little and shook her head at him, “I'm young, Miles, not stupid. I knew it could happen if we kept having sex, but I didn't stop you either. Maybe it's not the right time for this to happen, but I don't regret it, any of it.”

 

God help him, she really was too good for him and he knew it now more than ever. Here she was, pregnant and in some form of captivity in the one place she hated completely, and it was all because of him. Yet at the same time, she was taking some of the blame onto herself and sounding almost pleased with the fact that she was pregnant. That was the most shocking thing of all, this was her first child, and it was his, he'd never thought any woman would want to carry his child. But Charlie, his sweet, beautiful Charlie, was willing and happy to give him the one thing he'd always envied of Ben; a family. Mind you, before the lights went out, having a family and settling down was the very last thing on his mind. Over the last few years though, he'd wanted it but he knew that after all the evil he'd done, no woman in her right mind would want that with him. This one did though, even if they shouldn't be together and definitely shouldn't be having a child together, she was offering him his dream with both eyes open. Before either of them could speak again, Bass came back into the room and cleared his throat to draw their attention, “As much as I hate to break up this touching moment, your things are ready, and I would very much like to reclaim possession of my bedroom.”

 

Charlie stood up first, looking at Bass across the distance between them, “I want to see Danny, you haven't let me see him the whole time I've been here.” Shaking his head, Bass leaned against the doorway of the room, there was no way in hell he was letting those two together yet. While Danny knew their mother was still alive, Charlie definitely didn't know, and he strongly wondered if Miles even knew. He'd need to go have a chat with Danny Matheson before he dared to let him near Charlie, otherwise he would be inviting disaster, “Not just yet, Charlotte. You and Miles will go and get settled, and if things go smoothly tomorrow, I'll arrange to have Danny come for a visit. Supervised of course, you'll understand my caution in letting the three of you be alone together.” That had her clenching her fists at her side, but Miles was on his feet at her side before things got too out of control with her temper. Putting his hand on his shoulder, he kept his eyes on Bass, “Let it go, Charlie, we'll see Danny tomorrow. It's better this way, you and I have things to talk about before you see him anyway.” She clearly didn't like being told when she could and couldn't see her family, but she nodded anyway, there was no sense arguing.

 

Stepping out of the doorway and motioning them out, Bass waited as Miles took her hand and led her out of the room, careful to stay between her and Bass. He knew she wanted to twist around and sock him one, but the only thing that would do is probably get her thrown in prison for a day or two. That was the last thing he was going to allow though, he knew what the prisons here looked like and he'd die before he ever let her be put there. The soldier standing in the office doorway looked at Miles and hesitated for a moment or two before saluting him, “General Matheson, ma'am...if you'll follow me, I'll take you to your quarters.” Hearing that title directed at him again made Miles want to spit from the bad taste it left in his mouth just to hear it, but he didn't. He was expected to act the part again, and he drew himself up and nodded back to him, “Lead the way, Sergeant.” At his side, he felt Charlie stiffen at the tone he used and he gave her hand a soft squeeze as he followed the man out of the office and down the hallway to the stairs. Maybe he should have asked Bass to give Charlie a different set of clothes other than the too big pants and shirt she was wearing now. There would be clothes at the house, but he didn't much like leading her around the city to wherever they were going while she looked like that. She deserved better, and there might have been the urge to show her off a little, just maybe.

 

When they stepped outside, he turned when the soldier did and followed him silently along the walkway as Charlie stuck close to his side. He knew why too, she'd never seen so many Militia in one place at one time before, and these were the people she hated. Thankfully enough, the walk wasn't long and the man stopped in front of a modest looking house, “Your quarters, Sir. The effects President Monroe ordered for you are already inside.” Miles nodded and saluted him before leading Charlie up the steps and through the door once he'd opened it for them to walk through. Turning back to the man once she was inside, he spoke, “Thank you, Sergeant, you're dismissed.” The man nodded and went off down the sidewalk again, but the two men that had been to either side of the house were still very much in place. Bass' security to make sure they didn't run of course, but there was nothing he could could about that, so he ignored it and closed the door. Turning back to Charlie, he stayed still and quiet and waited, she needed to say whatever was on her mind before anything else.

 

She turned to him and rubbed her arms a little, “I don't like the idea of having to stay here, Miles. This is no place to have a child, and we may as well be in prison.” Taking the few steps to her, he reached out and pulled her gently against his chest, resting his cheek against her head, “If there had been another way that kept everyone alive, I would have done it. Believe me, I know you don't want to stay here, much less have a baby here, but we don't have a choice right now. Give it some time, Charlie...maybe..maybe I can talk some sense into him and make things change, hell, maybe you could at some point. But for now, we have to stay here even though neither of us wants to be here.” Charlie wrapped her arms around his waist and sighed as her head rested against his chest, she didn't know whether to cry or scream it all out. Screaming was probably a bad idea though, it would bring people running, and she really didn't feel like seeing soldiers anymore right now. In the same turn, she didn't start crying either, she just held him to her and drew comfort from him, “I understand, Miles..but..what are we going to tell Danny?” That was the question of the year for sure, and he really didn't know what to say about that, it wasn't his choice honestly.

 

Lifting his head, he looked down at her as she looked up at him once he moved, “Tell him whatever you think is best, sweetheart. If you want him to know the truth, then tell him the truth and if he wants to deck me one, I'll let him have at it. And if you want to keep us a secret from him, I wouldn't mind either, but I want you to do what you think is right, not what you think I want.” He could see her mind working over the information, the intelligence in those blue eyes being put to work as she thought about it. Deep down inside, he wanted to tell everyone in the entire world that she was his and he was hers, screw what they thought about it. But like he'd said to her, this was not about him, it was about what she wanted and what made her happy. Charlie, on the other hand, was more than aware that if she told Danny about this, it wasn't going to end well at all. And another part of her knew that keeping things from him was just as bad as telling him and letting him get angry and disgusted over it. Sighing a little, she shook her head, “I don't know...but...lying to him seems wrong, Miles.” Miles nodded and kissed her forehead softly in understanding, “Then don't lie to him, we'll handle whatever comes of it if you want to tell him the truth. He's your brother, Charlie, and I know that he loves you, with some time the kid will understand even if he doesn't like it or agree with it.”

 

That wasn't something she was so sure about, but she nodded anyway, just knowing she had his support either way meant a lot to her. It meant that they were really in this together and he had no intentions of running off on her, not that she'd really thought he would anyway. Lost in her own thoughts for the moment, she didn't realize he'd moved until he knelt down in front of her and drew her attention completely. He was looking at her stomach that he was now eye level with, and she felt herself blushing as she shifted a little, “Miles..?” Shaking his head, he reached up to her waist and held her gently as he leaned in and pressed his lips against her through the shirt. Charlie held still where she was, save for lifting one of her hands to gently slide her fingers through his hair, she understood now. This was the first time either of them had really had a chance to privately think about the fact that she was pregnant, that they were having a child. Breathing out a moment later, he closed his eyes and shifted his arms to hug her softly, “I don’t deserve this, Charlie...I don't deserve you or this baby, but I'm going to be selfish and take all I can get.” She scoffed and leaned down to kiss the top of his head, “You're an idiot, Miles. I told you before that you were worth more than you think you are, and I still believe that. Even though I hate being kept here, I understand that you did it for us and I can't really be upset about that. As long as we're together, we can make it through this, and I'm not too good for you, far from it. I want to be with you because I love you, and I'm happy that I can give you a family, if that's what you want.”

 

Crazy woman, completely crazy and possibly insane woman that she was, she'd never realize that he was the luckiest man on the planet. Rising back to his feet, he pulled her against him and leaned down to press their lips together firmly. There weren't words to say what he wanted to say, so he'd just have to kiss her and hope that she knew what was going unspoken. Her hands clenched the front of his shirt and she kissed him back with as much emotion as he was putting into their kiss. That was enough for him to know that she did understand what he was trying to show to her, and that was all he needed. Breaking the kiss a minute later, his forehead rested on hers but he kept his eyes closed, “We should get things settled and put away before nightfall.” She nodded and stole another kiss from his lips before she stepped back, out of the circle of his arms, “I'll put the clothes away.” Opening his eyes, he smiled at her and watched as she picked up the two bags full of clothes and went off down the hallway to find the bedroom. Just so he wasn't tempted to follow after her and show her how much he loved her, he picked up the crate of food and such, and turned to carry it into the kitchen. He could see it already, he'd be settled and domesticated before she ever had that baby, and this time it wasn't something that scared the hell out of him. It was time to face the music, he wasn't getting any younger and he had a woman that loved him, he'd count his blessings and be happy with what he had now. Even if said blessings were delivered right in the heart of the Republic and Bass holding their leashes, there was still time though, things could still get better.


	12. Settling In

By the time Miles finished putting all their food and various dishes away, the sounds from the other end of the house had stopped. He wanted to give Charlie time to herself if that was what she needed, but her silence worried him more than the need for privacy. Deciding to go and check on her, he left the kitchen and went down the hallway to the bedroom. At the door, he paused quietly and just took in the sight he was presented with, one that made him ache pleasantly. She was just standing there at the window looking outside at the river behind the house, one of her hands resting over her stomach. There was absolutely no doubt as to what was on her mind right then, she was thinking of the baby she carried. A baby she never should have ended up with in the first place, and despite that, Miles was more thrilled than he'd ever been in his life. Right or wrong, it didn't matter to him anymore, he loved her with everything he was and knowing she was pregnant made him love her even more. And given the fact she was willing to have their child was something he never would have dreamed she'd be willing to do even after all they'd done together.

Moving from the doorway, he walked over and slid his arms around her waist and drew her up against his chest, “Penny for your thoughts?” She relaxed against him and moved her hands to rest over his that were now covering her slim stomach protectively, “There's so many thoughts in my mind right now that I don't even know where to start, Miles.” He nodded and rested his head on top of hers, it was only normal that she'd have a lot on her mind, especially with all the circumstances around them. Not only were they lovers, but she'd nearly died, found out she was pregnant, was forced to live in the very heart of the Republic, and she'd had to endure Bass for far too long. That was a lot to put any woman through, more so when it happened to be Charlie that was going through it after what she'd been through before that. “I don't have any answers, or ways to make this easier, kid.” Miles paused there and frowned at himself a little before he hugged her to him a bit more firmly, “I'm sorry, you're not a kid anymore and I know that. Hell, half of that is my own doing.” Sometimes, like now, it made him feel sick that he'd really done all of this, but he couldn't find it in himself to regret any of it.

“Miles, I'm not upset over anything we've done, there isn't anything I'd change even if I could. I told you before that I loved you just the way you are, right or wrong, I don't care. Things might not be good right now, but we still have each other.” Charlie said back to him calmly, more calm than he thought she had a right to be under the cloud of things hanging over them. She was tough as nails, that much was clear already, and he was secretly thankful that she wasn't having some sort of break down. Most women in her position would likely have lost it already, but not his Charlie, she was made of stronger things. Tipping his head a little, he pressed a kiss against her hair, “I love you too, Charlie, and I don't regret anything we've done. It's just not an easy thing to come to terms with, knowing who we are and all the things that have happened to get us here.” She shifted in his arms so she could turn to look up at him, almost burning him with those blue eyes that would forever haunt him until the day he died. The way she looked at him made it hard for him to even function, it did things to his head that he couldn't begin to explain.

It bothered him a little that she was so calm and a lot more wise than he gave her credit for being, she shouldn't have been that way. Part of it was his fault though, he was sure, from making her do things she never should have been a part of in the first place. The other was because of what had happened in her life, the blackout and then losing Rachel. Followed all too soon by losing her father, Danny's kidnapping and then the death of Maggie along the way to Philly. By all rights, she should be a complete wreck after all of that, but not his Charlie, she was still up fighting her way through. Before she could speak, Miles leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, turning her fully so he could pull her in against his chest. She went willingly and lifted her arms up to wrap around his shoulders as his left hand slid up to tangle his fingers in her hair. As always with her, it thrilled Miles all the way from the top of his head to the tips of his toes when she kissed him back like this.

His left hand snaked between them to start slipping the buttons free on her shirt, he'd had enough of stolen moments in the woods or half drunk memories. She needed to know that he loved her and that this wasn't about the physical pleasure of being together. This time he'd make sure it was slow, that she really understood just how deep his feelings for her truly ran. As the last button slipped free, he softly stroked the bare skin of her side as he broke their kiss to look down at her. There was that blush on her cheeks, only for a few seconds though, but it made him smile just the same. He shrugged his shoulders to drop her arms away so he could reach up and push the shirt off of her shoulders. It fell the rest of the way down her arms and fluttered to the floor behind her, completely forgotten where it lay. Almost reverently, he stroked down the front of her body with the back of his hand, “You're beautiful, Charlie.”

She shifted and reached up to his shirt, but he caught her hands in his and shook his head, this wasn't at all about him right now. It was all about her, and if he didn't keep his clothes on for now, it would be over before it ever really started. Miles kissed the knuckles of both of her hands before he let go of them and instead lifted her off of her feet. Walking around one side of the bed, he put her down and fit one knee between her legs before he followed her down. Rather than kissing her again, he dipped his head to trail his lips over her neck, down her chest to the top of her left breast. He heard her intake of breath when he parted his lips, and the barely restrained moan when he drew her nipple between his lips. As he fully expected, her fingers found their way into his hair as he teased the hard little bud with his tongue a few times. Honestly, it was past time that he learned the things she enjoyed intimately, but better late than never. He drew back a little, pressed a kiss over the nipple and then moved to the other one to give it the same attention.

The fingers in his hair tightened a little each time his tongue swept over the little bud, letting him know she approved so far. Miles didn't stop this time though, he just switched tactics and drew on the nipple a little to judge her reaction to that. It earned him a surprised little gasp that was quickly followed by a whimper, “Miles...Miles please!” Impatient little thing, it was a loving thought though as he repeated the action again, and again after that. When she finally let that moan fall from her lips without holding it back, he moved back to the other nipple and sucked softly. Beneath him, she was squirming a little, and her hands in his hair tried to urge him to do more, but he wasn't giving in yet. He was going to do this right or die trying, because she deserved for it to be done the right way, for her. A thud behind him alerted him to the fact that she'd just kicked her boots off, and he couldn't stop himself from lifting up to laugh, “In a hurry?”

Her look was heated and he knew without a doubt that she was definitely in a hurry, because she didn't know any other way, “You're driving me crazy.” Smiling down at her, he shook his head and caught her hands when she reached for him, stretching them over her head and pinning them down to the bed, “There isn't any reason to rush through this anymore, I don't want to just have sex with you, Charlie. I love you, and I'm going to make love to you like you deserve.” She stilled and blushed again, but didn't protest to it, though he could see that behind her blue eyes, her mind was running in overtime. He leaned down and kissed her for a few seconds before he moved and let go of her hands to stand up in front of her, “Stay there.” Reaching out, he unbuttoned and unzipped the pants and slid them down her legs, tossing them off to one side of the room. The panties were next, and he slid them over her hips and down her legs to join the pants somewhere in the room.

Once she was completely naked, he looked down at her, just drinking in the sight of her in a way he'd never really seen her before. Yes, she'd been naked with him before, but he'd never been sober enough to really just look at her and see how beautiful she was. There was desire for her, but most of what he felt was an all encompassing love that he'd never felt for anyone else before. Moving forward again, he came to rest on his side next to her rather than over her again. He stroked the side of her face and then down her neck, between her breasts and down her stomach. Turning his hand a little, he nudged her thighs to spread enough for his hand to fit between them, “If you don't like it, I'll stop.” Not that he really thought she wouldn't like it, but it just made him feel better if she knew that he would stop if she asked. Miles was watching her as he brushed his fingers over the damp lips of her sex, she'd done this to herself before he was sure. It was just different now that he was the one doing the touching, that much was clear in her eyes.

Oh he wanted to do a whole lot more, but there was time for that later, he needed to ease her into the different things lovers did together. Not that she was stupid, she probably already knew a lot of those things, but he'd much rather take his time with all this. Her legs spread a little wider and he took the invitation she offered, gently slipping his fingers between the lips to gather her wetness on his fingers. Shifting his hand, he slid those fingers up until he found her clit, obvious by touch and by the way her hips jerked a little at the sudden touch. Leaning over, he kissed her forehead and then her cheek and then down to her lips as he circled a single fingertip around the little bundle of nerves. Charlie moaned against his mouth and lifted her hips a little in search of more contact than she was getting at the moment. He obliged and rubbed two of his fingers over her clit in a slow, smooth circle that had her whimpering within a few seconds. Tipping his head, he lightly nipped her bottom lip before he leaned back again, “That's it, sweetheart, just feel everything, don't hold anything back.”

Miles kept rubbing the soft circles against her clit, more than content to watch the way she squirmed beside him. The way her eyes grew darker with the pleasure she felt, and those little sounds she made were slowly driving him to insanity. He was not going to rush this though, he wanted to see her orgasm before he even thought about getting his own pleasure from this. Or at least, that was his intention anyway, to not rush into things and just take what he wanted. But Miles had never been too pure of man, he'd always gone and taken what he wanted, with Charlie, it was even more true. Now, the more he rubbed her clit, the louder she became, and the more overwhelming his own desires started to become. Those blue eyes were locked on him, burning him from the inside out as her cries grew louder, until he was sure the soldiers outside the house could hear her. He couldn't find it in him to care though, not with the mesmerizing creature at his side, “Please! Miles!” Those words, such innocent little words really, were what finally broke him. Charlie wasn't going to let him be slow, she wasn't going to let him pet and pamper her, because that's not how his angel was on the inside, "You're not going to let me take my time, are you?"

She was all Matheson in everything she did, from fighting, to living, and even to making love it would seem. The only speed she knew was pedal to the metal, give it to her right then because it's what she wanted, what she needed. He clenched his jaw, hard, and rubbed those little circles a little more firmly over her clit, he couldn't let go just yet. It was a point of pride that he let her have her pleasure first before he took his own, he wouldn't accept anything less. Charlie's hands gripped his shoulders and she dragged him down for a fierce kiss that had him groaning into her mouth as much as she was moaning into his. Less than a minute later, she was throwing her head back and crying out his name as all that pleasure that had coiled inside her finally snapped. Miles knew he just stared stupidly down at her as he watched that post-orgasmic blush creep over every inch of her body from head to toe. And he was hopelessly entranced by the sight of her writhing body, it was a sight he knew he'd never get out of his head. For once, he was okay with that, and to some degree it was a comfort to him, to know that she was there and that she loved him.


	13. Chapter 13

Miles was absolutely at his limit for holding back after watching Charlie orgasm for what seemed like hours to him. Just as she'd relaxed against the bed, he got up and yanked his shirt off over his head, tossing it off to the side to be forgotten instantly. Their eyes met as he unbuckled his belt and whipped it out of the belt loops on his pants. From the look in her eyes at that, he definitely had her full attention as he toed his boots off and kicked them aside while he unbuttoned his pants. At some point, he'd probably look back on this and kick himself in the ass for not slowing down a little more. But he was as much a Matheson as she was, doing anything slow had never been a part of their lives before. Dropping his pants and boxers around his ankles, he stepped out of them and to the edge of the bed as Charlie reached for him.

He went willingly and let her settle him over her where she wanted him as her arms wound around his shoulders, “You sure you want this, Charlie?” The look she gave him clearly said she did, but she spoke up anyway, “Miles, I love you, yes I want this. I want you.” A shiver went through him at that fire in her eyes that she was constantly burning him with every time she looked at him. Her fingers threaded through his hair and Miles let her pull him down into another kiss as he slid one arm beneath her shoulders to hold her to him. It was Charlie who snaked one of her hands down to guide him into position as he broke the kiss to look down at her. Had this not been a very intimate thing, he probably would have laughed at how eager she was right now. But as it was, it was probably the most romantic, sweetest thing he'd ever had a woman do, given the circumstances.

Their eyes met and Miles pushed forward, sliding into her in one long, smooth push that left him groaning and her gasping. Without a doubt, he was home, this was where he was meant to be and he knew it right then and there. He rather thought himself stupid when it came to her, after all he done to her and made her do, but he'd never had a thought as clear as that one. Laying there with her, connected as deeply and intimately as they could be, he knew that Charlie was home to him. Not just because it felt good, even he wasn't that shallow. She was home because she held his heart, everything he'd ever wanted was in this one woman. The one woman he never should have touched in the first place, but right or wrong, they were together.

Miles gazed down at her as he drew his hips back and then thrust into her, feeling goosebumps raise up along his skin when her fingernails dug into his shoulders. He set a pace that was slow, but one that still gave her everything she wanted from him. With each thrust, he sank deep inside her, slowly building her pleasure right back up all over again. And Charlie moved with him, lifting her hips up to meet each of his thrusts as those blue eyes locked with his brown ones, searing him straight to his very soul. Even if he'd wanted to, he wouldn't have been able to look away from her while she looked at him like that. But his eyes darkened when she reached down between them with one hand, oh he was absolutely not going to let her touch herself this time. Sliding his arm out from beneath her shoulders, he grabbed her hand and stretched her arm up above her head to pin it down on one side of her head, “Not this time, sweetheart.”

Just so she couldn't try the same thing with her other hand, Miles pried it off his shoulder and pinned it down on the other side of her head. She whimpered and wrapped her legs around his waist, trying to pull him in deeper, urging him to move faster, anything she could get that would make her reach orgasm faster. He wasn't having any of it though, he'd already been rushed into this, he wasn't going to let her rush him to the finish. Not when he was trying his best to show her he loved her. Part of it he blamed on himself for how they'd always had sex before this, the other part he entirely blamed on her being a young Matheson. In his youth, he'd been just as quick and eager as she was now, rushing for that finish as soon as he got started. Oh he'd learned there were better things than a quick fuck, and this most certainly was not that, not by a long shot.

Leaning down over her, Miles pressed his lips to hers, nudging her lips open with his tongue before he delved inside with a groan. She always tasted so sweet to kiss, and the way she fought him with her tongue to gain control of the kiss just made his head spin. He thrust hard and caught her moan in his mouth as he shifted and brought her wrists together, holding them in one hand. His other hand slid down to cup one of her breasts, brushing his thumb over the nipple a few times before he moved his hand further down and then curled his arm around her waist. When he thrust again, Miles grew still and then shifted, lifting her up with him as he sat back on the bed and settled her in his lap. As he let go of her wrists, he held onto her slender waist and leaned back from their kiss to look up at her.

“Miles..?” Charlie looked like she might have been blushing as her hands dropped to rest on his shoulders, completely at a loss. His grip on her waist tightened a little and he guided her into movement, showing her how to take her own pleasure and give him his too. It was almost like time froze between them as he slowly guided her up and down until she started moving on her own. All the other times, few as they had been really, he'd always been the one in firm control, taking what he wanted and somehow managing to have enough brain about him to see that she enjoyed it too. That was something that had to change, she deserved a whole lot better than what she'd gotten from him up until now. Sliding one hand to her lower back, he helped her keep up her movements as his other hand slid up into her hair, “It's okay, baby, just relax and do what feels right. Let me watch you love me.”

It came out terribly poetic, but Miles didn't bother to correct it with something he'd usually say, she didn't seem bothered by it anyway. Actually, she looked at him with a little bit of awe over the fact that he'd said it at all. But damnit, he wasn't going to last long if she kept looking at him with those eyes, they always made him cum faster than anything else. Grunting a little on one of her downward motions, Miles dragged her forward into another kiss with him. Anything to just make her stop looking at him like that, it was difficult enough to be inside her and not rush to the finish. The last thing he needed was her blue eyes searing him to the core and making him lose control so soon. She didn't seem to mind though as he caught another moan in his mouth when she picked up the pace a little and found she liked it. Cheeky little minx, let her on top for a few minutes and she's already figured out how to drive them both absolutely crazy.

She dragged a groan out of him when she started putting a little force into her movements, and his hands shot down to grip her hips. Tearing his lips away from hers, he fixed her with a heated gaze, “Keep doing that and I'm going to cum before you orgasm again.” He expected her to slow down, but Charlie surprised him when she pushed his shoulders and pressed him down beneath her. Like flowing water, she followed him down and kept moving as their eyes locked again, “Doesn't matter..I love you, Miles.” Okay, his brain packed it's bags and left through the nearest open window, he couldn't think of anything to say. Rather than trying, he pulled her into another kiss as Charlie sighed happily against his mouth. Miles knew he really should roll her back over and make sure she came again before he did, but Charlie rolled her hips and it was absolutely him that moaned that time.

Bending his knees a little, he braced his feet against the bed and thrust up when she moved down, meeting her movements. The first time had her moaning, the second had her tearing her mouth from his as she gasped and clutched his shoulders tighter. Miles clenched his teeth and picked up the pace when she started to move faster, bringing her hands down to brace herself against his chest. Her eyes fluttered closed as her gasps and moans turned into soft little cries that had him completely mesmerized. He was just struck stupid by the sight of her flushed cheeks, that look of pure pleasure on her face and the way her honey colored hair flowed around her face when she moved. There wasn't a moment he could remember when his angel had been as beautiful as she was in that moment, caught up in the pleasure of their lovemaking.

“Charlie...come on baby, cum for me.” Miles grunted out as he willed himself to just hold on a little longer, to just wait long enough for her to orgasm again before he let go. Her eyes flew open and her hands curled into fists against his chest, she was so close he could feel it. Could feel the way her body was starting to tremble and tense up, there was no mistaking that feeling when it came to her. She was gasping, whimpering as they moved together for what felt like an eternity to him. And then he felt it the split second it happened, he felt her crest and that orgasm crashed through her. Charlie's breath hitched as her body snapped tight and then she shattered above him with a cry of his name that he swore the entire city probably heard. He thrust again with a groan before he sat straight up and wrapped his arms around her as his cock pulsed and throbbed as he emptied himself into her.

On his lap, Charlie was trembling and squirming, grinding herself down onto him as she whimpered at the pleasure she was feeling. And Miles just held her, burying his face against her neck to try and keep himself grounded in the moment. She was clinging to him just as much, just the two of them wrapped around each other as they tried to recover. At least until the sound of clapping came from the doorway of their room and Miles jerked his head up. Two hands reached for their weapons, Miles' sword beside the bed and Charlie's crossbow sitting on the bedside table, “Here I am applauding your performance, and one of you is going to run me through while the other shoots me. How novel of you both.” Bass drawled from the doorway where he was propped up as though he owned the place, though in all honesty, he owned the city so that wasn't far from the truth.

His blue eyes raked over Charlie's naked body and Miles pulled her tight against him, “What the hell happened to knocking, Bass? And stop looking at her like that before I kill you for it.” Miles growled as he let go of the hilt of his sword so he could reach out and grab the blanket folded at the foot of the bed. Yanking it back to them, he wrapped it around Charlie's back to shield her from view, much to Bass' amusement. Pushing away from the doorway, his hands slid into his pockets, “It's just a friendly visit, Miles. I want you and Charlotte to have dinner with me, doesn't that call for a personal visit from an old friend when handing out dinner invitations?” Miles hated that they'd been seen making love, and he hated it even more because it was Bass who had caught them. “Go fuck yourself, Monroe.” Charlie snapped at him, much to Miles' surprise and Bass' amusement, she wasn't usually quite so mouthy.

“Such language out of that pretty mouth of yours, Miles needs to teach you some manners. I'll let it slide this time, if only because that was such a phenomenal little show you two put on.” Sebastian mused as he walked over to the window to look outside, like he wasn't even concerned that they were still on the bed. Completely naked and Miles still inside her, that was not how either of them had wanted to ever get caught. Narrowing his eyes, Miles shifted and held Charlie tightly as he got off the bed and carried her into the bathroom, kicking the door shut behind them, “Get out while we get dressed, Bass. That's not a damn suggestion either.” He could hear amused laughing and footsteps before the bedroom door closed a few seconds later, “Hurry it up, Miles.”

Sighing heavily, Miles carefully slid out of Charlie and sat her down on her feet, “Just wait here, I'll get your clothes.” He said as he turned to the door and then stopped and looked back at her, leaning in to kiss her softly for a few seconds, “I love you, Charlie.” She smiled a little and he left the bathroom to get their clothes, carrying them back to the bathroom along with a towel. Miles cleaned himself up and then knelt down and softly cleaned her off before tossing the towel aside for now. They were both quiet as they pulled on their clothes then walked out, and Miles reached out to open the bedroom door. He found Bass standing in the living room with his hands behind his back, “What did you really come here for, Bass?” Turning around at the sound of Miles' voice, he smiled and shrugged his shoulders, “You know me, brother. I had to see it to really believe it, or maybe I just wanted to see what it was about her that drove you crazy.”

Charlie cursed under her breath and went to go for Bass, but Miles caught her wrist and pulled her up against him, “Don't, Charlie...he's not worth it.” She stood glaring at Bass as Miles slid his arm around her shoulders and held her to him, “He might not be worth it, but it would make me feel better to kill him.” At that, Bass just laughed as he gazed at her, “You are so much like Miles, I make you angry and you instantly want to kill me. Every inch a Matheson, aren't you, Charlotte?” Miles lifted his other hand and pinched the bridge of his nose for a few seconds, “Just get out, Bass, we'll be at the hall for dinner.” Holding up his hands in a placating manner, he smiled an almost boyish grin that made Charlie want to sock him one, “Good then, I'll make sure we have your favorite tonight. In her delicate condition, Charlotte needs a good meal.”

Both Miles and Charlie had to bite their tongues as Bass chuckled and then turned and walked out the front door. When he was gone, Charlie glanced up at Miles and crossed her arms over her chest, “Has he always been such an asshole?” Raising his eyebrows a little, Miles looked down at her and actually laughed, “Yeah, he was born a dick, comes naturally to him.” She smiled a little at that and he pulled her into a hug, letting her rest her head against his chest, “Don't worry, he's just pushing buttons right now, don't let it get to you. We'll go have dinner and then come back here and rest, tomorrow we can talk about everything else, okay?” Charlie nodded and held him tighter against her, not quite ready to let go of him just yet, she just needed a little more time before they had to go suffer through dinner with Bass.


End file.
